Principal Metallurgist

Endeavour Mining; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Professional development opportunities

Relocation assistance

Job summary

A leading mining company in the UK is seeking a Principal Metallurgist to drive technical excellence in geometallurgy and mineral processing. The ideal candidate will provide expert guidance and support for site operations, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and ensure compliance with industry standards. This role demands a strong background in metallurgy, project development, and innovative technology implementation. Opportunities for training and mentorship within the organization are available, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of testwork, process design and optimization.
• Experience in managing metallurgical variability.
• Broad knowledge of geology, mining, and water management.

Responsibilities

• Drive technical excellence in geometallurgy and mineral processing.
• Provide technical support to site operations and project teams.
• Champion integration of geology and metallurgy.

Skills

Geometallurgy expertise

Mineral processing knowledge

Technical leadership

Analytical skills

Education

Degree in Metallurgy or related field

Qualified Person in Metallurgy

Tools

Process modeling tools

Metallurgical accounting systems

Job description

The Principal Metallurgist plays a critical role in driving technical excellence across the group, with a particular focus on geometallurgy, mineral processing optimization, and metallurgical integration into mine planning and project development. Acting as a subject matter expert, this role provides advanced technical leadership, guidance, and support to site operations, corporate studies, and project teams, ensuring the effective translation of orebody knowledge into processing strategies that maximize value and minimize risk.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Technical Excellence

• Serve as the company’s technical authority in geometallurgy and mineral processing. Develop and maintain group-wide standards, methodologies, and best practices for geometallurgical modelling, sampling, and testwork.
• Provide expert technical input to ore characterization programs, metallurgical models, and recovery forecasting.
• Lead the evaluation and implementation of innovative technologies to improve metallurgical understanding and plant performance.

Geometallurgy & Orebody Integration

• Champion the integration of geology and metallurgy to ensure a holistic geometallurgical approach is embedded across the business.
• Collaborate with geology and mining teams to design and execute geometallurgical sampling and testwork programs.
• Support site development of geometallurgical models that accurately predict metallurgical performance and variability for life-of-mine planning.
• Ensure that geometallurgical insights and findings are made available to inform mine sequencing, blending strategies, and processing optimization.

Operational & Project Support

• Provide specialist metallurgical guidance to operating sites on complex processing challenges. Support all studies (Concept to FS), project development, and due diligence by leading metallurgical and geometallurgical workstreams.
• Assist in troubleshooting recovery or variability issues through advanced testwork interpretation and analysis.
• Facilitate knowledge transfer and collaboration across sites to ensure consistent application of best practices.
• Act as a coach and mentor to metallurgists, geologists, and mining engineers across the group, building capability in geometallurgy.
• Promote a culture of technical excellence, continuous improvement, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Represent the company in industry forums, technical committees, and external research collaborations.

Governance, Safety & Sustainability

• Ensure metallurgical and geometallurgical practices comply with company policies, industry standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Champion safe, sustainable, and responsible metallurgical practices, including efficient resource utilization and environmental stewardship.
• Develop governance processes to track, audit, and report metallurgical performance, risks, and opportunities across the group.

KEY DELIVERABLES

• Group Geometallurgy, Water and Met Accounting Standard and supporting guidelines.
• Ongoing assurance monitoring and reporting; audit reports; closure tracking and compliance scorecards.
• Quarterly performance dashboard (geometallurgy, met accounting and water).
• Technical reviews and recommendations for critical performance issues and circuit changes. Training curriculum outline and capability framework for metallurgy and processing teams.

KEY INTERFACES

• Sites: Process Managers, Metallurgy Superintendent and metallurgists. GM, Processing
• Group: VP Technical Services and reports.
• VP Operations, Projects/Studies, Group TSF Manager, Water, Data/IS&T, Exploration.

SUCCESS MEASURES (EXAMPLE KPIs)

• Maintained and up to date set of standards and guidance available for site team to utilize QP compliant contribution in areas of subject matter expertise to Endeavour’s market and regulatory documents (NI43-101, AIF, etc) Increased stability/availability and improved recovery/throughput where opportunities are identified.
• Timely delivery of testwork and technical recommendations supporting decisions and studies.
• Capability uplift: training completion, readiness of successors, reduced reliance on ad-hoc external support.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE

• Qualified Person in Metallurgy and Mineral Processing Deep knowledge of testwork, process design and optimisation, metallurgical accounting and variability management.
• Broad knowledge of Mineral Processing, Geology, Mining, Tailings and Water Management, Exploration and other adjacent areas of expertise.
• Familiar with common process modelling tools and modern analytics/process control practices.