Drill & Blast Engineer at Newmont Mining Corporation

About This Role:

• Are you able to perform drill and blast planning and design of production activities in the short-term and deliver underground stope drill and blast designs to enable the underground business partners to carry out drill and blast operations safely?

Responsibilities

Drill and Blasting Designs

• Sign off on blast designs before blasting, track cost and blast improvement parameters.
• Collate all drill and charge meters for the month in question.
• Conduct fragmentation analysis to see how drill parameters are translating on the ground.
• Design and issue drill and blast plans, remote bogging plans as per the site standard.
• Design and collate information for all stope close outs to support the stope reconciliation process.
• Update on daily basis the SLS drill and blast register.
• Conduct site inspection of all stopes pre & post production.
• Issue checklist for drilling sites prior to production drilling and prep plans for stope and raise charging.
• Monitor the draw percentage of SLS rings and backfill compliance to eradicate waste reporting on draw point of SLS rings.
• Perform QAQC check in stopes to ensure correct production drilling setup for Solo & ITH.
• Perform checks on loaders to ensure draw % for SLS rings are being complied with.
• Liaise with consultant and specialist supplier as required.
• Assist to create, implement and maintain the drill and blast engineering processes, standards and procedures for the Subika technical services team.

Short Term Scheduling

• Support in mine scheduling activities to assist with drill and blast plan for weekly, monthly an three months scheduling.
• Monitor contractor’s equipment for compliance to KPI’s and schedule.
• Maintain an up to date SLS drill and blast register and reconcile actuals to design.

Additional Responsibilities:

Continuous Improvement

• Recommend improvement activities to achieve and exceed KPI’s.
• Conduct quality assessment of all drill and blast activities underground and inform management on actual performance against plan.
• Investigate and recommend modifications to present operations when more flexible and feasible. Engineering alternatives could render improvements.
• Consult with the scheduling Engineer to generate weekly schedules.

Compliance

• Ensure adherence to policies, standards and procedures in all areas of operations.
• Monitor blast variations and emissions to ensure compliance with the national and best practice guidelines.
• Ensure cave draw percentages are being tracked and communicate to the operations team.
• Ensure compliance with all safety procedures, codes and regulations and assist in securing permits.

Health and Safety Management

• Participate and contribute to safe practice and environmental awareness.
• Actively participate in all Newmont Ghana safety and environmental systems and initiatives.
• Demonstrate personal commitment regarding safety and environmental practices.
• Identification of potential hazards and action that is appropriately taken.
• Maintenance of a high standard of efficiency, safety and effectiveness.
• Raising, discussion and resolution of safety issues at regular meetings.

Your Training, Skills & Experience Checklist:

Formal Qualification (including Professional Registrations):

• Bachelors’ degree in Mining Engineering.

Experience:

• Minimum of 3 – 5 years’ experience in an underground mining environment of this;
  • Preferred a minimum of 2 years’ experience in underground mining operational time such as blasting, drilling, haulage and service crew works.
  • Preferred previous experience in ventilation and project engineering.

Technical Skills:

• Proficient in the use of the design software (DESWIK).
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office software (Outlook, Word, Excel, Access).
• Sound analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Sound planning and organizational skills.

Behavioural Attributes:

• Accuracy.
• Analytical
• Deadline driven
• Safety conscious.
• Self-motivated.
• Team player
• Results driven.
• Proactive.
• Resilience.

Working Conditions

• Position is located at the Ahafo South mine.
• Combination of office and underground mining conditions.
• Moist wet surfaces with section of continuous water fall.
• Potential for extreme dust particles and high heat/humidity.
• Noise exposure within the requirements for earplugs or/and ear muffs.