Environmental Scientist

About the Company

The mining industry has steadily become worse at finding new ore deposits, requiring >10X more capital to make discoveries compared to 30 years ago. The easy-to-find, near-surface deposits have largely been found, and the industry has chronically under-invested in new exploration technology, relying on the manual techniques of yesteryear – even as demand accelerates for copper, lithium, and other metals to build electric vehicles, renewable energy, and data centers.

KoBold builds AI models for mineral exploration and deploys those models—alongside our novel sensors—to guide decisions on KoBold-owned-and-operated exploration programs. In the six years since founding, KoBold has become by far both the largest independent mineral exploration company and the largest exploration technology developer. Our data scientists and software engineers, who come from leading technology companies, jointly lead exploration programs with our renowned exploration geologists.

KoBold has proven its first discovery with materially less capital than the industry average and found one of the best copper deposits ever discovered: the copper is far more concentrated than the global average of copper mines, and this asset alone is expected to generate meaningful revenue for decades. KoBold has a portfolio of more than 60 other projects, each of which has the potential for another high-quality discovery.

KoBold Metals Zambia is building a rapidly growing team of Zambian geologists, operators, and executives to identify, acquire, explore, and develop exploration opportunities and mineral resources drawing upon KoBold’s technology and the expertise of colleagues worldwide.

 

About The Role:

The ideal candidate for this role will be responsible for the delivery of all environmental analyses to meet current and anticipated demands in accordance with KoBold’s Scientific Principles. 

This role will be responsible for developing and executing environmental analyses against international best practice, supporting the Company with rigorous fundamental science and statistical methods, and facilitating transparent data-driven decision-making. This role will ensure that the Company complies with national environmental legislation and international standards by collecting, assessing, analyzing, and collating environmental performance data using statistically defensible methods (e.g. time-series, spatial analysis, uncertainty quantification) and reporting to regulatory bodies. 

Responsibilities include;

• Design environmental monitoring programs using first-principles analysis of sampling statistics through time and space, ensuring that data sets are robust, repeatable, and suitable for long-term trend detection. 
• Collect quantitative data and carry out novel analyses to characterise baseline environmental conditions and quantify trends during construction and operations. Data types include (but are not limited to): surface water flows, water quality (both surface and groundwater), groundwater level, air quality (NOx, SO2, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter), meteorological parameters (RH, precipitation, ET), soil condition. 
• Use high-resolution satellite and drone imagery, supplemented with ground-truthing in conjunction with Mingomba’s Community and Social Relations team, to identify land classes, quantify agricultural production, study demographic growth, and assess deforestation. 
• Conduct internal environmental audits and participate in external audits, working with team members to ensure all audit findings are quantifiably addressed and corrective actions are implemented promptly. 
• Develop quantitative environmental training for staff at all levels by producing educational or information resources for the company.
• Collaborate with colleagues on mine infrastructure development, environmental studies, and permitting. 
• Assess and mitigate potential environmental impacts associated with constructions and mining operations using quantitative models, scenario testing, and uncertainty analysis. 
• Develop robust land remediation and rehabilitation plans.
• Be a key advisor for site leadership for all environmental matters, including proactive development of quantitatively defensible environmental incident response plans. 
• Review and assess the effectiveness of current environmental programs using statistical performance metrics; drive initiatives for continuous, measurable improvement in environmental performance. 

Qualifications

Our ideal candidate will have… 

• PhD in Environmental Engineering/Science or related field with relevant experience
• Experience developing statistically rigorous environmental sampling programs
• Experienced in implementing EMS on large scale exploration and mining projects
• Ability to lead with authority and influence large projects
• Community Relations experience
• Knowledge of Zambian Environmental Legislature

We are committed to equal employment opportunities for all people.

This position is a full-time contract role.

At this time, we are only accepting applications from Zambian nationals.

Location:   Zambia.