Mining Engineer — Artisanal & Small-Scale Gold Formalization

Requirement

An impact-focused mining company is formalising artisanal and small-scale gold operations in Ghana and the DRC. Formalisation is a technical problem wearing a social problem's clothes: the engineering — improving recovery, eliminating mercury amalgamation, making pits and shafts survivable — only sticks if the miners working those sites accept it, and they will not accept it from someone who arrives with a plan and no relationship. The mining engineer carries both halves. The technical work covers site assessment and geological verification, processing improvement to raise recovery and remove mercury from the circuit, and mine safety design appropriate to small-scale operations rather than scaled-down industrial standards. The compliance work covers OECD Due Diligence Guidance implementation — chain of custody from pit to export, supplier assessment against the five-step framework, and the documentation that lets downstream refiners accept the material. The community development component is not peripheral. Formalisation changes who earns what and who holds mining rights, and the engineer is expected to work through those consequences with mining associations and local authorities rather than around them. Compensation is $7,000-$14,000 monthly. The role is field-based across Ghana and the DRC.