Process Subject Matter Expert; SME

DRA Global Limited (ASX: DRA | JSE: DRA) (DRA or the Company) is an international multi-disciplinary engineering, project delivery and operations management group, predominantly focused on the mining, minerals and metals industry.

The Group has an extensive track record spanning almost four decades across a wide range of commodities. Our teams have deep expertise in the mining, minerals and metals processing industries, as well as related non-process infrastructure such as, water, and energy solutions.

DRA covers all major mining centers with offices across Africa and the Middle East, North and South America, and the Asia-Pacific.

DRA is seeking a senior-level Process Subject Matter Expert (SME) to join its Advisory & Project Development platform in North America.

This role is intentionally distinct from detailed engineering execution roles. The Process SME operates at the strategic front-end of project development — shaping metallurgical strategy, capital efficiency, value engineering, risk allocation, and investment defensibility.

The SME will serve as a trusted advisor to mining executives, boards, private equity, institutional investors, and lenders — helping define technically sound, capital-efficient, and ESG-aligned projects from concept stage through Scoping, PEA, and selectively into PFS.

This is a high-credibility, market-facing leadership role focused on influencing project direction before capital is committed.

• Lead evaluation and comparison of alternative flow sheets to optimize:
• Capital intensity (CAPEX per tonne and per pound of payable metal),
• Operating cost structure (OPEX drivers and sensitivity),
• ESG footprint (energy intensity, water balance, tailings strategy, emissions profile),
• Modularity, constructability, and scalability.
• Drive “fit-for-value” process design philosophy aligned with project maturity (Scoping vs PEA vs PFS)
• Shape process strategy around the client’s objectives and real-world constraints including schedule, product specs and offtake terms, ESG/permitting pathway, and funding requirements.
• Evaluate metallurgical testwork programs for statistical robustness, representativity, and scalability.
• Lead trade-off studies (e.g., grind size, flotation configuration, leach kinetics, reagent strategy, concentrate specification).
• Integrate process strategy with infrastructure constraints (power, water, logistics, tailings storage).
• Develop mass balance, recovery assumptions, and plant throughput strategies defensible to financiers.
• Identify early-stage fatal flaws and de-risking pathways before significant capital is deployed.
• Identify value levers and quantify them where possible (recovery/throughput trade-offs, energy intensity, water balance, consumables, maintenance drivers).
• Support value engineering workshops and structured optimization sessions prior to FID.
• Serve as technical advisor to:
• Mining companies and project sponsors,
• Private equity and institutional investors,
• Commercial banks, streaming/royalty firms, and ECAs,
• Boards and investment committees.
• Lead or contribute to:
• Technical due diligence (buy-side and sell-side),
• Lender’s technical advisor mandates,
• Scoping Studies and PEAs,
• Select PFS engagements requiring strategic metallurgical leadership.
• Translate technical uncertainties into commercial risk language (NPV sensitivity, IRR exposure, contingency implications).
• Assess level of estimate maturity and linkage between process design, quantities (MTO), and CAPEX build-up.
• Evaluate alignment between process assumptions and financial models.
• Support financing processes by ensuring defensibility of recovery assumptions, ramp-up profiles, and operating cost projections.
• Provide expert opinion memoranda and risk summaries for investment decisions.

• Evaluate and optimize processing strategies to reduce:
• Energy intensity,
• Water consumption,
• Tailings risk,
• Carbon intensity.
• Assess integration of emerging technologies (dry stacking, coarse particle flotation, HPGR, electrification).
• Support alignment with global ESG frameworks and lender expectations.
• Advise on…