Senior Advisor - Mineralogy

Senior Advisor – Mineralogy

• Join team supporting exciting global projects
• Be part of a group that is safety driven and values inclusion
• Permanent opportunity based in Bundoora, Melbourne

About the role

Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.

Rio Tinto Exploration (RTX) has a fantastic opportunity for a full-time Senior Advisor – Mineralogy to join our Exploration Technology Development Team based in Melbourne at the Bundoora Technical Development Centre. The team is an innovative and dynamic component of RTX with the objective of increasing the discovery rate of investable mineral resources across a variety of commodities.

Critical to our success in developing and applying new mineral exploration and characterisation tools are the underlying microanalytical instruments within the Rio Tinto Bundoora facility. This includes several SEM systems within our electron microscopy laboratory. These systems are used to characterise the mineralogy and texture of geological samples, generate high quality SEM-EDS mineral chemistry data and also form an integral component of our overall laboratory workflow.

At the Bundoora facility, there is an increasing variety of SEM systems as well as a growing sample load and user base. To enable development of new workflows, as well as better supporting existing ones, there is a renewed focus on the accuracy of both quantitative mineralogy and EDS chemical datasets produced from the laboratory and their long-term monitoring by various QAQC approaches.

You will have expertise in Scanning Electron Microscopy and automated mineralogy rooted in a firm technical understanding of SEM operation, optimisation, and routine maintenance with experience in the analysis of geological materials.

Reporting through to the Principal Adviser – Laboratory Technology & Automation, you will:

• Commissioning new and maintaining existing SEM systems in optimal conditions for accurate and precise mineralogy and EDS mineral chemistry.
• Technical support to users of both SEM and automated mineralogy, including professional technical staff and geoscience team stakeholders.
• Implementation of best practice QAQC for SEM instrumentation.
• Development of new workflows to streamline on-site analytical workloads and improve efficiencies.
• Engaging with equipment manufacturers and developers to understand and capture new technology development opportunities that can help accelerate discovery.

You will have the opportunity to work with specialists and samples from across the globe and participate in R&D projects (internal and external) and laboratory visits, as applicable, to play your role in our next discovery. You will also gain significant exposure to the full suite of tools, technologies, people, knowledge and capabilities of the Technology Development Team and broader Exploration Technical Knowledge group.

What you will bring

• A bachelor’s degree in chemistry/physics/geoscience/materials science or closely related field.
• Experience in operation of electron beam microanalytical approach(s) for characterisation of geological materials.
• Experience in SEM-EDS standards-based quantification for reliable major element chemistry and awareness of relevant fundamental QAQC parameters.
• Experience in automated mineralogy approaches and systems.
• Strong working knowledge of mineralogy.

It will also be beneficial if you have

• PhD in related field.
• Functioning to proficient knowledge of coding in Python and/or R.
• Knowledge of common ore deposit types – particularly of benefit to have a working knowledge of the common ore and gangue minerals and their geological associations in ore deposits.

What we offer

Be recognised for your contribution, your thinking and your hard work, and go home knowing you’ve helped the world progress. 

• A work environment where safety is always the number one priority 
• A permanent position working directly for Rio Tinto 
• A competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience with annual incentive program
• Comprehensive medical benefits including subsidised private health insurance for employees and immediate family  
• Attractive share ownership plan 
• Company provided insurance cover 
• Extensive salary sacrifice & salary packaging options 
• Career development & education assistance to further your technical or leadership ambitions
• Ongoing access to family-friendly health and medical wellbeing support
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave) 
• Exclusive employee discounts (banking, accommodation, cars, retail and more) 
• Possible domestic relocation assistance

About Rio Tinto

Every idea, every innovation, every little thing the world calls ‘progress’ begins with a first step, and someone willing to take it: explorers, inventors, entrepreneurs. Pioneers.

For 150 years, Rio Tinto has been a company of pioneers – generations of people spanning the globe, all with the grit and vision to produce materials essential to human progress.

Our iron ore has shaped skylines from Shanghai to Sydney. Our aluminium – the world’s first to be certified “responsible” – helps planes fly and makes cars lighter. Our copper helps wind turbines power cities and our boron helps feed the world and explore the universe.

Our diamonds help us celebrate the best parts of life.

Where you’ll be workingOur Development and Technology department is focused on excelling in development, accelerating growth, and driving the development and delivery of technology to enable decarbonisation, safety, growth, ESG and productivity advances. Our Group Technical team work collaboratively to protect our people, communities, and assets from major hazard events, drive next-generation innovations to create a competitive advantage, collaborate with operations to help them reach their full potential, and enable organisational resilience by building enduring technical capability. We know we are stronger together.

Ideally you will be available to attend our Bundoora office 3 days per week.

Every Voice Matters

At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, women, the LGBTI+ community, mature workers, people with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds.

We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard, all cultures respected and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome – they are essential to our success. We treat each other fairly and with dignity regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or anything else that makes us different.

Applications close on the 31st of August 2023 (Rio Tinto reserves the right to remove advertised roles prior to this date).