Accountable for leading and integrating the process engineering and metallurgical work required to advance the El Alto Project through the Pre-Feasibility Study, subsequent study phases, project execution and operational readiness. The role is the project focal point for process design, metallurgical test work, GeoMet integration, flowsheet development, design criteria, mass and water balances, equipment selection, process risk management and technical interfaces with the EPCM, laboratories, consultants, operations and technology providers. A primary objective is to ensure the PFS is supported by representative, auditable and sufficiently mature metallurgical and process data, and that critical information requirements are built into drilling and sampling programs before the available drilling windows are lost.

Responsibilities

- Provide a strong contribution to Barrick's safety culture and programs while encouraging and ensuring others do the same.
- Act as the lead process engineering authority within the El Alto project team, owning the technical quality of all processing deliverables through scoping, PFS, FS and execution planning.
- Own and maintain the process basis of design, Process Design Criteria, process flowsheets, mass and water balances, equipment list and major process design assumptions.
- Lead the formal metallurgical, process, mineralogical and GeoMet gap assessment against PFS requirements and maintain a data-gap register showing required information, owner, due date and study impact.
- Define the information and sample requirements to be obtained from the current drilling campaign, working with Geology, GeoMet, Mine Planning and Drilling so metallurgical requirements are built into drilling plans before scope is finalised.
- Develop and own the integrated metallurgical test work programme, including master composite and variability strategies, QA/QC and laboratory selection, and translate results into design criteria and recovery models.




- Integrate processing response into the project GeoMet model, defining metallurgical domains and recovery assumptions for mine planning and the financial model, and ensuring Penelope and all other relevant deposits are incorporated from the outset.
- Lead flowsheet development and the technical trade-off programme (recovery, CAPEX, OPEX, water, energy, operability and risk) and maintain a flowsheet decision register documenting alternatives, evidence and recommendations.
- Ensure the metallurgical programme develops sufficient technical and economic information to support a clear include/exclude decision on copper recovery within the project flowsheet.
- Develop and maintain process models, lead equipment sizing and selection, and review vendor guarantees and scale-up methodology, ensuring the plant is neither materially under-designed nor unnecessarily over-designed.
- Provide technical review and challenge of EPCM, consultant, vendor and laboratory work, and critically review anomalous or non-representative test data.
- Maintain the processing and metallurgy risk register with defined mitigations and closure evidence, and provide process CAPEX/OPEX inputs and basis of estimate support.
- Interface effectively with the Project Manager, VP – Processing & Metallurgy, Geology, GeoMet, Mine Planning, Tailings, Water, Infrastructure, Finance and Operations teams, communicating conclusions clearly and distinguishing facts from assumptions.
- Capture test work, design decisions, assumptions and lessons learned in a controlled technical knowledge base, and support recruitment, capability development and handover to the future operations teams.





Qualifications

- Bachelor´s degree in Chemical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Mineral Processing or a closely related discipline; professional registration or eligibility is advantageous.
- Ten (10)+ years’ of relevant experience in minerals processing experience, with substantial exposure to major studies and/or project delivery.
- Demonstrated experience leading process engineering for PFS/FS level studies and translating metallurgical test work into process design criteria.
- Strong experience in metallurgical test work design, sampling and composite strategies, process modelling, flowsheet development and equipment selection.
- Experience with gold and/or copper processing is strongly preferred; heap-leach residues, leaching, washing/solid-liquid separation and complex ore variability would be advantageous.
- Experience managing EPCM consultants, laboratories, OEMs and multi-disciplinary technical interfaces, with strong technical writing and the ability to communicate material risks and trade-offs to senior project leadership.

About Us Nuestra misión es ser la empresa de minería de oro y cobre más valiosa del mundo. Estamos comprometidos a establecer alianza con nuestros países anfitriones y comunidades para transformar sus recursos naturales en ventajas tangibles y prosperidad mutua. Con minas y proyectos en operación en 18 países, la fuerza laboral altamente diversificada de Barrick proviene casi en su totalidad de nuestras naciones anfitrionas y está equipada con habilidades de clase mundial. Establecemos el estándar de oro en sustentabilidad al incorporar consideraciones ambientales, sociales y económicas en todas nuestras decisiones de negocio.

Las acciones de la empresa cotizan en la Bolsa de Valores de Nueva York con el símbolo GOLD y en la Bolsa de Valores de Toronto con el símbolo ABX. Obtenga más información en www.barrick.com o síganos en LinkedIn .

📌 Argentina/Chile - Lead Process Engineer - El Alto
🏢 Barrick Gold
📍 Argentina