Vice President of Process Chemistry & Metallurgy

Vice President of Process Chemistry & Metallurgy

Reports to:

SVP of Critical Minerals Processing

Employment Type:

Full-Time, Exempt

Travel:
Up to 15% (analytical laboratories, conferences, vendor sites)

Our client is a mining company advancing a first‑of‑kind initiative to extract critical minerals, including rare earth elements and specialty metals, from carbonaceous ore using an innovative high‑temperature carbochlorination process. The Vice President of Process Chemistry & Metallurgy will lead a small, technically ambitious team building and operating a bench‑scale carbochlorination laboratory, sitting at the center of the experimental program that underpins this novel flowsheet.

This is a rare opportunity to lead a project from the ground up, growing with it through bench‑scale test work, pilot‑scale demonstration, and ultimately full commercial plant operations. It's a hands‑on role suited to a technically driven leader who wants a direct line of sight from laboratory work to industrial‑scale impact, working closely with senior leadership to shape a novel process from first principles into a commercial reality.

• Set up, commission, and operate a bench‑scale tube‑furnace carbochlorination reactor system, including programmable temperature control, gas delivery, and feed metering.
• Operate and maintain a staged condensation train for selective recovery of metal chloride products, including high‑temperature de‑sublimation stages, cold‑trap condensers, and off‑gas scrubbing systems.
• Manage chlorine gas handling infrastructure with strict adherence to safety protocols, including leak detection, cylinder changeovers, scrubber operation, and emergency procedures.
• Perform solid‑liquid extraction procedures and small‑scale fractional distillation of liquid metal chlorides.
• Maintain rigorous experimental logs, mass balances, and chain‑of‑custody records for all test campaigns.

• Execute a multi‑stage comminution sequence on drill core material, including jaw crushing, roll crushing, and pulverization to target grind sizes for reactor feed.
• Prepare samples for external ICP‑OES and ICP‑MS analysis, including acid digestion, fusion dissolution, and dilution series for multi‑element assay of feed, product, and residue streams.
• Perform routine in‑house characterization using techniques such as XRD, loss‑on‑ignition, particle size analysis, and moisture determination as capabilities are established.
• Interpret analytical results to close mass and elemental balances around each test run, identifying chlorination selectivity, conversion efficiency, and product distribution across condenser stages.

• Design and execute structured experimental programs investigating key process variables.
• Contribute to thermodynamic modeling and literature review efforts, including evaluation of novel process concepts such as silicochlorination and alternative chlorine supplementation methods.
• Develop engineering data packages for scale‑up, including kinetic data, heat and mass balance inputs, and product quality specifications for downstream refining.
• Prepare clear technical memoranda, test reports, and data visualizations for internal review and external stakeholder communications.

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Hands‑on laboratory or pilot‑scale experience with reactor systems, gas handling, and process instrumentation.
• Experience with sample preparation and analytical techniques such as ICP‑OES, ICP‑MS, XRD, or similar characterization methods.
• Working knowledge of mass and elemental balance calculations, with the ability to translate lab‑scale data into scale‑up engineering packages.
• Experience handling hazardous or reactive gases, such as chlorine, under strict safety protocols.
• Strong technical writing skills, with the ability to produce clear reports and data visualizations for technical and non‑technical audiences alike.
• Comfort working in a small, fast‑moving technical team where…