Senior Tailings Engineer

Requisition ID: 94393 

Job Category: Metals 

Location: Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil 
 

Join a company that is passionately committed to the pursuit of a better world through positive change. With more than 65 years of business and technical expertise in mining, energy, and infrastructure, our 10,000 colleagues in 150 countries tirelessly work toward bettering the industries in which we operate. With practical solutions that are safe, innovative and sustainable, we think globally while acting locally. Are you looking for an opportunity to join a diverse group of professionals who are committed to remaining exceptional? We look forward to hearing from you.

If it isn't grown, it's mined. Our mining and metals teams help our clients to safely and sustainably mine the minerals and metals used in our everyday lives. Want to play a part of innovating and optimizing the mining life cycle on greenfield and brownfield facilities? Apply today!

Hatch is committed to providing a complete array of engineering services to the mining and metals sector. Mine waste and mine closure management, together with mine water management, is an ever-increasingly complex subject for the industry. Hatch employs an integrated approach from the moment mine waste is generated to the point where it needs to be finally contained. This is done by considering all mining aspects including dewatering processes, transport and storage components, and the closure design of mine waste and refining residue facilities. In doing so, we are dedicated to projecting a holistic vision to tailings and mine and metallurgical waste streams management. We do this by finding the smartest, most innovative solutions to de-risk the industry. We build strong teams. As such, we will continue to look for innovative solutions, bringing together geotechnical, hydrotechnical, process engineers, geochemists practitioners, and other SMEs into the tailings practice, all with a clear and dedicated focus to find ways to manage, reduce, and/or repurpose tailings and mine waste.

The Tailings, Mine Waste and Mine Closure (Tailings) Practice group at Hatch is seeking to hire an intermediate level, (Geotechnical/Hydrotechnical/Dewatering Process)-Tailings Engineer to become a practitioner in the field and part of our expanding team in (region/country). This role would suit a highly motivated professional with a strong technical focus, who is interested in supporting the development of the practice and expanding the capability within the (region/country) cluster of an existing multidisciplinary practice group of specialists in tailings and mine waste management field made of geotechnical, hydrotechnical, mining, geoscientists, and process engineers around the world.  Reporting will be to (region/country) lead, which in turn report to the Global Practice Director in the Tailings Practice.

Key Responsibilities:

•  Support senior design engineers carrying out projects in all types of integrated mine waste management systems (be specific in one main component of tailings dewatering and comingling, transport, storage and mine water management).
• Develop (be specific in one main component of tailings dewatering and comingling, transport, storage and mine water management) field and laboratory investigation programmes for physical and geochemical stability evaluations.
• Participate in the preparation of proposals, trade-off studies, feasibility to detailed engineering studies and engineering reports for mine waste disposal with all types of tailings consistencies and potential co-disposal systems.
• Responsible/support for the assessment of (be specific in one main component of tailings dewatering and comingling, transport, storage and mine water management). A common example for a practitioner with geotechnical engineeringbackground is the ability to understands slope stability of contractive (liquefaction) behaviour under static and earthquake loading scenarios.​​​​​​
• Responsible/support for predicting (be specific in one main component of tailings dewatering and comingling, transport, storage and mine water management).  A common example for a practitioner with a hydrotechnical engineering background is to determine emergency spillway conditions under operating and closure scenarios.
• Responsible/support the team in interrogating geotechnical/hydrotechnical/rheological/geochemical models of tailings storage facilities, especially with limit equilibrium, dynamic deformation and probabilistic Goldsim analyses under a variety of loading and climatic conditions.
• Responsible/support the team in questioning geotechnical/hydrotechnical/rheological/geochemical issues. A common example for a practitioner with geotechnical engineering background is to have a reasoned insight of settlements,  liquefaction potential, slope stabilization, pore pressure generation, excavation and backfilling procedures, and related problems.
• Responsible/support field operations through supervision and monitoring (be specific in one main component of tailings dewatering and comingling, transport, storage and mine water management). A practitioner with geotechnicalengineering background would require experience in drilling, in situ tests, piezocone soundings, reconnaissance trenches, as well as miscellaneous construction work such as tailings storage construction, subgrade compaction assessment, installation of geosynthetics, etc.
• Responsible/support in developing process design criteria, mass balances and process flowsheets for dewatering, backfilling as well as synergy between underground and surface disposal.
• Responsible/support in developing surface distribution (pipeline systems or stacking systems) for approved flow models and to interact with paste backfill specialists for underground mining when required.
• Responsible/support in material pumpability (slurry, paste-like-slurry and paste) assessment and cost effective solution for material delivery for surface disposal (underground when required) and through distribution systems.
• Experienced in pump and pipe sizing and selection -using Weir, and GIW software.
• Responsible/support in tailings filters type selection and sizing, thickeners type selection and sizing, pipe sizing, specifications and cost estimations for surface conveyors (underground pipelines when required), agitation processes(agitator selection for complex tailings) and hydrocycloning, selection, adjusting and simulations.
• Responsible/support to create principal tailings process equipment layout, process equipment lists along with specifications and operation range evaluation in general arrangement drawings with AutoCAD finalizing with cost estimations(CAPEX, Sustaining CAPEX and OPEX) for all project levels.
• Potential to perform other tasks as part of your role in the team

Qualifications and Experience:

•  Bachelor degree(s) in Civil, Geological, Mining, Chemical engineering and post-graduate in (Geotechnical Engineering or equivalent Hydrotechnical and Mineral Processing Engineering) from an accredited University.
• Valid professional engineering registration or engineer-in-training registration in Brazil.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in a role leading to this opportunity.
• Construction/field experience (construction quality assurance in geotechnical/hydrotechnical facilities and dewatering circuits) is a bonus.
• Excellent verbal and written (English/Spanish/Portuguese/French) communication skills. Preferred bilingual proficiency in (English/Spanish/Portuguese/French).
• Works well and seamlessly in an international team with a strong client focus.
• Highly proficient in MS Office suite of tools including Excel, Word, PowerPoint and MS Project.
• Proficient in GeoStudio package and advance use of Excel for geotechnical/hydrotechnical/dewatering processes in-house sub-routines.
• Preferred abilities with computer programming in Python or Visual Basic.
• Ability to travel internationally with focus in Brazil.
• Valid passport preferably with international recognition as well as a valid driver’s license in Brazil.

Why join us?

• Work with great people to make a difference
• Collaborate on exciting projects to develop innovative solutions
• Top employer

What we offer you?

• Long term career development
• Think globally, work locally

Don't meet every single requirement? You don't need to. At Hatch, we are building a diverse, inclusive workplace that fosters innovation. If you're interested in this role, we encourage you to apply even if your past experiences don't perfectly align with the skills we've listed.

We're committed to fostering a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities in which we operate and serve. Hatch is an Equal Opportunity Employer that considers applicants without regard to age, race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, veteran, or any other protected status. If you have any accommodation requirements, please let us know. We'll do our best to meet your needs in accordance with applicable local legislation.