Hydrometallurgy Research Lead for Rare Earth Recycling

Hitachi, Ltd.; Canada; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and Dental coverage

RRSP/401K contributions

Generous paid time off

Job summary

Cyclic Materials in Canada seeks a Research Metallurgist - Hydrometallurgy to design and execute research programs that improve the inhouse processing of rare earth elements and expand capabilities from lab to pilot and commercial operations. You will lead bench-scale and pilot-scale tests, analyze data, and translate results into practical improvements for production.

Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb chemistry and impurity handling are key areas.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemistry, or related field; Master's or PhD preferred.
• 5+ years of hydrometallurgy, process development, mineral processing, chemical processing, or critical minerals recycling experience; rare earth experience strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of hydrometallurgical unit operations (leaching, precipitation, crystallization, filtration, etc.).
• Experience designing test programs, operating lab or pilot equipment, interpreting data, translating results into improvements.
• Knowledge of ICP-OES/ICP-MS, XRF, titration, ion chromatography, pH/ORP/conductivity, particle size, and moisture/solids analysis.
• Ability to perform mass balances, metallurgical accounting, recovery calculations, statistics, and structured data analysis.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to convey complex chemistry to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Commitment to safety, environmental stewardship, collaboration, and service-minded execution.

Responsibilities

• Hydrometallurgical process development: design, evaluate, and optimize metals recovery circuits including leaching, impurity removal, solid-liquid separation, precipitation/crystallization, solution purification, and reagent/water recycle.
• Research test programs: develop bench-scale and pilot-scale test plans with sound experimental design, sampling plans, mass balances, and clear success criteria.
• Rare earth chemistry: study extraction, dissolution, selectivity, impurity behavior, phase chemistry, product specs, and factors affecting recovery and purity for Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb, etc.
• Data analysis and metallurgical accounting: analyze parameters, yields, product quality, losses, bottlenecks, and variability; prepare technical memos and reports.
• Scale-up support: translate lab results into pilot/plant operating guidance, including envelopes, control strategies, troubleshooting, SOP updates.
• Operational collaboration: work with plant metallurgists, engineers, operators, maintenance, environmental teams, and partnerships.
• Technical communication: present results to stakeholders; document work in memos, reports, test procedures, and presentations.
• Safety and compliance: plan and conduct lab and plant work safely and in line with environmental expectations.
• Team contribution: support technicians and cross-functional teams in a startup environment.
• Travel: travel up to 30% for trials, commissioning, troubleshooting, and vendor/customer meetings.

Skills

Hydrometallurgy

Process development

Data analysis

Technical communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering

Master's or PhD preferred

Tools

ICP-OES/ICP-MS

XRF

Ion chromatography

pH/ORP/conductivity

Job description

Cyclic Materials in Canada seeks a Research Metallurgist - Hydrometallurgy to design and execute research programs that improve the inhouse processing of rare earth elements and expand capabilities from lab to pilot and commercial operations. You will lead bench-scale and pilot-scale tests, analyze data, and translate results into practical improvements for production.

Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb chemistry and impurity handling are key areas.