Director Underground Mining

Posted: 31 Jan 2012
Apply deadline: 30 Apr 2012
Location: CO-Denver,USA

Job Description:

Description

 Founded in 1921 and publicly traded since 1925, Newmont (www.newmont.com) is one of the largest gold companies in the world.  Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the company has approximately 34,000 employees and contractors, with the majority working at Newmont's core operations in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia and Ghana.  Newmont is the only gold company listed in the S&P 500 index and in 2007 became the first gold company selected to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.  Newmont's industry leading performance is reflected through high standards in environmental management, health and safety for its employees and creating value and opportunity for host communities and shareholders. The purpose of the Director Underground Mining:

• Reports directly to the Senior Director, Project Development Mining but has cooperative working relationships with, and sometimes lines of responsibility to, operating site senior management; to Project Directors for Pipeline projects and M&A Targets; and others as directed.
• Acts as the functional lead for underground Global Independent Review activity for the Capital Effectiveness process. 
• Undertakes activity in support of M&A, leading underground assessment and analysis, and providing Quality Assurance and Quality Control for others' inputs. 
• Supports the mine engineering function at underground mine operations offering advice and provision of services when appropriate, whether as a specialist resource or in a trouble shooting role.
• Organizes and leads teams of subordinates; colleagues; resources from sites and the Perth TS team;  contractors and consultants as required in order to provide underground mine engineering services to the D&D and Operations departments for various purposes;
• Supports career path planning undertaken for relevant UG mine engineering personnel from 106 grade level and higher. This will include working with all operating sites to facilitate inter site transfer of staff when appropriate. As the functional lead, the Director Underground Mining will act as a mentor in developing operating site and mine engineering personnel.
• Supports Newmont's Innovation initiatives, including by organisation of, and participation in, Brainstorming Sessions; managing Newmont's interests in UG related R&D projects and developing relationships with Newmont's external partners in innovation including universities, OEMs, research groups and industry peers. 

Essential Duties include:

• Builds consensus, through collaboration and benchmarking of best practices, for appropriate standard technical processes across all sites globally. This will include working with all operating sites to identify and develop standards, determine objectives for each standard, facilitate transfer of standards out to sites, continuous improvement of standards, and assist sites in implementation of standards.  Many operating processes will be site or region specific and are inappropriate for transfer to all sites and the Director Underground Mining manages the assessment of operating processes for determination of their applicability as standards.
• Provides or coordinates mine engineering and mine operations support to existing mine sites on an impromptu pull fashion, either personally or by arranging appropriate support from others, as a specialist resource; in support of substantial programs or initiatives; or in a trouble shooting situation;
• Draws on broad industry experience to apply diverse mine engineering techniques to complex situations and is able to rely upon first principles; and fundamental engineering and operating theory; coupled with sound judgment to provide practical solutions.
• Supports corporate initiatives as needed, providing additional resources and expertise to Business Planning, Capital Effectiveness, AFE reviews, Business Excellence, Innovation (including Mine of the Future), and Global OH&S programs.
• Reviews AFEs for alignment to standards and future directions in mine operations.
• Performs Independent and peer review of stage gate work from Order of Magnitude through to Stage 4, using a seasoned and varied background of experience to thoroughly and objectively assess each project, providing honest and open feedback and recommendations to ensure that only projects of sufficient merit progress through the stage gates for recommendation of capital approval.
• Works closely with new operations as they transition from Stage 4 into execution to implement appropriate standard technical processes and operating standards, as part of Business Readiness.
• Provides underground mining engineering skills to Project Evaluation and M&A Due Diligence Teams, analyzing information, investigating discrepancies and make recommendations to assist in decisions regarding potential mergers and acquisitions for Newmont. Such review of existing operations and potential projects within an M&A target will include recommendations for operational changes and identification of opportunities that could improve economics. Impacts of these recommendations can exceed $250million dollars.
• Supports Global HSLP by leading the biennial Underground Technical Evaluations; by assistance and cooperation in other audits, investigations (potentially including investigations of serious accidents); and by involvement in other OH&S intitatives. .
• Additional responsibilities include mine engineering work as needed with an emphasis on unit costing, mine planning, benchmarking and optimization.

The above duties and responsibilities are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and are not necessarily all-inclusive. Working Conditions The Director Underground Mining is based at the Palazzo Verde office in Greenwood Village, Colorado.  Performance of the work requires travel (approx 25% of work time) to domestic and international operations. Travel can be at short notice to overseas or domestic locations, including Newmont and non-Newmont locations and greenfield areas.

 

Qualifications

 

• A minimum of 20 years combined mine engineering and operations experience, most at underground operations, including substantial experience in hard rock gold mines.
• B.Sc. Mining Engineering or equivalent is essential, an advanced degree is preferred.
• Experience in supervision of Mine Engineering professional staff and related groups at owner operator mine sites.
• Experience in senior mine management roles, such as Underground Manager.
• Overseas work experience preferred, operations start-up experience in remote location desirable.
• History of practical mine design, planning or other engineering experience. Experience in operations with complex multi mine, multi process situations preferable.
• Seasoned knowledge of mine equipment selection, application, and cost estimation.
• Good understanding of geotechnical issues and methods.
• A sound knowledge of ventilation.
• A working knowledge of hydrology.
• Detailed knowledge of unit costing methods for budgeting and forecasting.
• Seasoned knowledge of mine methods, mine design, production scheduling, and expert systems. 
• Seasoned experience in project evaluation at all stages from Target ID to Stage 4, with demonstrated strong analytical skills.
• Experience in performing M&A due diligence.
• Familiarity with business systems and standard office application software.
• Ability to build and maintain strong communications network with peers, Project Managers, Mine Managers, Chief Engineers, managers of other functional groups and JV partner representatives.
• Strong problem solving and 3D visualization skills.
• Strong technical writing, group presentation skills, and interpersonal skills including a high degree of cultural sensitivity.
• Bilingual skills, or English as a second language a plus.

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