Start date: As soon as the appropriate candidate is selected
Employment: Full-time
Salary Range: 87,000 – 100,000 (Commensurate with skills and experience)
Location: Victoria, British Columbia + international travel
The Artisanal Gold Council: Based out of Victoria, Canada, the Artisanal Gold Council (AGC) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the opportunities, environment, and health of the millions of people involved in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) in the developing world, and in doing so, improving the global gold sector.
The AGC consists of a core staff, associates and a council of experts (Board of Directors) in areas of ASGM, economics, sustainable development, social responsibility, human and environmental health, and gold production and extraction. The AGC works in many different regions of the world.
For more information about the AGC and its projects please visit http://www.artisanalgold.org
The Artisanal Gold Council seeks a full time technical expert on environmental science, geochemical analysis, and mechanical systems – an Analytical Geochemist and Mechanical Systems Expert – with small scale gold mining (ASGM) expertise.
Job Requirements:
The job requires a senior level geochemist with experience working with the international Artisanal Gold Mining Sector as well as possessing a suite of other geoscience and technical expertise with specific analytical instrumentation (analytical geochemistry) and mechanical systems ( heavy equipment). The job requires extensive experience in mercury and gold science and geochemistry, analytical instrumentation, chemical analysis, laboratory management, technology implementation, international development, language skills (proficiency in and an operational knowledge of French, other languages are an asset) and other relevant vocational experience.
This job does not require any provincial/territorial/or federal certification, licensing or registration. The educational requirements of the job are a Bachelors Degree of Science in Geosciences specializing in chemistry or geochemistry, and a Masters Degree of Science, Geosciences.
The candidate must hold significant expertise in artisanal gold mining and have worked full time in the sector for at least five years including extensive direct field experience performing skills related to the requirements of this job. In-country experience would preferably be in Asia, South America, and Africa. The job will be based in Canada and involve extensive work on projects overseas in challenging and varied conditions in which the candidate should prove they can operate successfully. The job will involve installation of state-of-the art atmospheric monitoring systems for mercury and meteorological data (such as Tekran and Lumex instruments) in the field in gold mining communities, and state of the art collection and analysis systems be purchased, set up, operated and maintained in a variety of conditions. Extensive experience with geochemical analysis of rocks, soils, water, and air and the operation of and maintenance of a variety of analytical instruments including ICPMS, AA, CVAFS, IC, and high temperature smelting equipment for trace elements, carbon, gold, and high precision, custom mercury analysis is required, as well as in the design of simple through to complex mercury abatement systems. The job will require assaying and sampling surveys to be designed and carried out to ascertain the recovery rate of artisanal mining operations, their usage of mercury, and their release of atmospheric mercury emissions.
The job will involve interpreting the field data collected and writing reports to the highest standards, as well as participating in the training of other AGC staff. It will also require nuanced familiarity with artisanal gold mining communities, their socio-economic structures, and the ability to interact with these communities forming positive relationships appropriately as a representative of the AGC.
The skills of the applicant will be assessed against the needs of the mission of the AGC and at a broader level in helping to train others to obtain similarly high level skills within our organization and others with whom we have collaborations with. The individual will be responsible for increasing the AGC’s capacity in the strategic area of mercury and gold science and mercury free processing systems in artisanal and small scale gold mining – an emerging development issue recognized by the world’s global institutions as a key development lever for many developing countries and their rural poor.
Candidates need to apply in writing to careers@artisanalgold.org with a resume/CV and cover letter by March 30, 2017. Interviews will be held in Victoria, BC as the close date of the posting approaches.