Lead Metallurgist, Hydrometallurgy for Critical Minerals

Kunin; Chattanooga (TN); On-site; USD 170,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Equity

Job summary

Kunin Technologies in Chattanooga, TN, is seeking a senior metallurgist to own the metallurgy behind metal recovery projects, including feeds, behavior in unit operations, and test programs up to flowsheet approval.

You will lead characterization, design and run bench-to-pilot programs (leaching, ion exchange, solvent extraction, precipitation, crystallization, electrowinning), and supervise external labs, with a strong emphasis on mass balances and robustness.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in extractive metallurgy or hydrometallurgical process development, including at least one program taken from bench testing into an operating plant.
• Practitioner of leaching, ion exchange, solvent extraction, and precipitation testwork with controlled pH, Eh, temperature, residence time, and reagent dosing.
• Fluent in mineralogy and analytical data (XRD, QEMSCAN/MLA, ICP) and able to turn it into a mass balance.

Responsibilities

• Lead metallurgical characterization of feeds, intermediates, and residues: mineralogy, deportment, speciation, and defensible sampling programs.
• Design and run bench-to-pilot metallurgical tests: leaching, solid-liquid separation, ion exchange, solvent extraction, precipitation, crystallization, electrowinning with closed mass balances.
• Own the metallurgical basis of design: kinetics, extraction and recovery curves, reagent consumption, impurity deportment, and scale‑up factors for engineering.

Skills

Metallurgy leadership

Leaching testwork

Ion exchange

Analytical data interpretation

Tools

XRD

QEMSCAN

ICP

Job description

Kunin Technologies in Chattanooga, TN, is seeking a senior metallurgist to own the metallurgy behind metal recovery projects, including feeds, behavior in unit operations, and test programs up to flowsheet approval.

You will lead characterization, design and run bench-to-pilot programs (leaching, ion exchange, solvent extraction, precipitation, crystallization, electrowinning), and supervise external labs, with a strong emphasis on mass balances and robustness.