Remote Senior Critical-Minerals Processing & Refining Expert

Axyde Analytics; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 207,000 - 413,000; Full time

Job summary

Axyde is building a senior expert bench for anticipated U.S. government-funded project-scoping assignments involving critical-minerals beneficiation, concentration, separation, refining, recycling, and recovery from primary ores and secondary feedstocks across the Indo-Pacific and other global markets.

The selected specialist will help Axyde determine whether proposed processing technologies and facilities have a credible technical basis, sufficient maturity, realistic scale-up pathway,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering, mineral processing, chemical engineering, extractive metallurgy, or related field.
• At least 10 years of relevant processing, refining, recycling, process-development, operations, engineering, or consulting experience.
• Experience evaluating or developing at least one critical-minerals processing, separation, refining, recycling, or secondary-recovery project.
• Experience translating test results and technical findings into practical development plans, scopes of work, schedules, budgets, decision criteria, and risk-mitigation measures.
• Ability to evaluate early-stage technologies and incomplete datasets without overstating maturity, performance, or commercial readiness.
• Strong analytical writing skills and the ability to work under compressed schedules.
• Contract-required status: U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident; principal place of business in the United States; firm engagement requirements.

Responsibilities

• Review mineralogical and geometallurgical data, metallurgical test work, process flowsheets, mass and energy balances, recoveries, yields, throughput assumptions, and product specifications.
• Evaluate comminution, beneficiation, gravity or magnetic separation, flotation, leaching, solvent extraction, ion exchange, precipitation, electrowinning, thermal processing, refining, purification, and recycling technologies as applicable.
• Assess technology readiness, process selectivity, impurity management, scale-up risk, equipment assumptions, pilot requirements, and the evidence needed to support technical claims.
• Evaluate feedstock availability, mineralogy, grade, variability, blending, logistics, sampling, qualification, and security-of-supply considerations.
• Assess reagent and consumable requirements, water and power demand, emissions, waste streams, residues, tailings, process safety, and environmental-control interfaces.
• Evaluate processing-facility interfaces with mines, utilities, transport infrastructure, intermediate products, customers, and downstream manufacturing.
• Develop or independently review preliminary throughput, recovery, production, schedule, CAPEX, OPEX, implementation, and risk assumptions for pre-feasibility, feasibility, pilots, and demonstrations.
• Develop or review technical tasks, required qualifications, deliverables, schedules, and budgets for pre-feasibility studies, feasibility studies, technical assistance, pilots, and demonstrations.
• Compare alternative processing pathways and identify material data gaps, decision criteria, testing requirements, risk mitigations, and stage-gate recommendations.
• Participate in sponsor interviews, technical-diligence calls, and occasional site visits involving project sponsors, host-country stakeholders, financiers, technology providers, and prospective U.S. suppliers.

Skills

Analytical writing

Technical due diligence

Critical minerals

Data interpretation

Scheduling

Education

Metallurgical/mineral processing degree

Job description

Axyde is building a senior expert bench for anticipated U.S. government-funded project-scoping assignments involving critical-minerals beneficiation, concentration, separation, refining, recycling, and recovery from primary ores and secondary feedstocks across the Indo-Pacific and other global markets.

The selected specialist will help Axyde determine whether proposed processing technologies and facilities have a credible technical basis, sufficient maturity, realistic scale-up pathway,