Senior Geochemist

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 eight 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 80 other projects, each of which has the potential for another high-quality discovery.

KoBold is privately held; investors include institutional asset managers T. Rowe Price and Canada Pension Plan Investments; technology venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BOND Capital, Durable Capital, StepStone, and Standard Investments; and strategic natural resources companies BHP and Mitsubishi.

About the Role

KoBold explores across several continents and a widening set of commodities. This role is the geochemical capability that travels with those programs.

Reporting to the Principal Geochemist, you will work as a functioning member of exploration teams in North America, Europe, and Africa; planning and running sampling campaigns, on the ground when it matters, and turning results around quickly enough to change what the team does next.

The Principal Geochemist has responsibility for company-wide standards, independent data quality assurance, and global method and technology development. Your responsibility is in the practice, programs, field decisions, interpretation, and the day-to-day geochemical judgement that the exploration teams you work within depend on. You will work closely with data scientists and software engineers to develop new tools and drive an ever deepening analysis of results. You will work to company standards and audit against them in the field. You will be required to prioritize your time effectively across multiple projects, and multiply your reach by training field teams to sample well without you present.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate in all activities a commitment to the highest standards in health and safety, environment, and community relations
• Act as the embedded geochemist for exploration programs across North America, Europe, and Africa, joining project teams for the phases where geochemical decisions are being made and providing insight to existing hypotheses and the generation of new hypotheses fast enough to influence exploration decision making
• Design geochemical sampling programs fit for the terrain, regolith, and mineral system being tested, including orientation surveys and the choice of sampling medium, horizon, size fraction, spacing, analytical suite, and digestion, across glaciated terrain, deeply weathered tropical profiles, and arid or transported cover
• Own the geochemical component of drilling programs: sampling intervals and sample support, preparation protocols, quality control insertion, and real-time review of incoming assays against the geological model
• Apply and audit KoBold's geochemical standards and quality control procedures in the field, resolve routine control failures at program level, and escalate systemic or analytical problems to the Principal Geochemist, who retains independent data quality sign-off
• In close collaboration with the science team, interpret multi-element geochemical datasets across commodities and deposit types, including lithogeochemical classification, alteration and trace element vectoring, fertility screening, and appropriate treatment of compositional data
• Partner with geoscientists, data scientists and software engineers to improve existing tools, and develop new tools
• Assess legacy and third-party geochemical datasets during property evaluation and acquisition due diligence, judging quality, comparability, and fitness for purpose, and identifying where re-analysis or re-sampling is required before the data can carry weight
• Work alongside geologists, geophysicists, and data scientists to identify, rank, and prioritise targets, making geochemistry a primary input to targeting
• Coach and train field geologists and technicians in leading-practice sampling, and contribute to the standard operating procedures and field documentation that let sampling quality hold when no geochemist is on site
• Feed field experience back into method and technology development led by the Principal Geochemist, including practical trials of portable XRF, in-field sample preparation, and emerging analytical techniques
• Plan and manage a demanding international travel and deployment schedule, in coordination with the Principal Geochemist and project leadership

Qualifications

A great Senior Geochemist candidate will have:

• Strong technical knowledge of more than one ore deposit type and comfort moving between mineral systems. Experience across two or more of sediment-hosted stratiform copper, porphyry copper, IOCG, magmatic nickel-copper-PGE sulfide, or LCT pegmatite systems will be considered an advantage
• Demonstrated hands-on experience designing and executing surface geochemical programs, including orientation work, in more than one regolith or cover setting
• Experience running the geochemical side of drilling programs, from sampling protocol through quality control to interpretation of results as they arrive
• Practical command of quality control for sampling programs, including reference material and duplicate design, control charting, and precision and bias assessment, together with working knowledge of the Theory of Sampling
• Excellence in generative analysis, from new concepts through to the integration, interpretation, and modeling of large multi-element datasets
• Baseline level of proficiency in standard desktop software packages (e.g., ArcGIS or QGIS) and in at least one dedicated geochemical data analysis package (e.g., ioGAS)
• The ability to work effectively as a member of teams they do not manage, across cultures, time zones, and technical disciplines, and to earn influence through the quality of their judgement rather than through reporting lines
• Previous experience in coaching and training geoscientists of varying experience, educational backgrounds and cultures in leading-practice mineral exploration
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally for extended periods, and eligibility to work or obtain the necessary permissions across the regions covered by this role
• Demonstrated commitment to high standards of health and safety in the workplace
• A minimum of 8 years’ experience in the mineral exploration industry
• Intellectual curiosity and eagerness to learn about all aspects of mineral exploration, particularly in the geology domain. Enjoys constantly learning such that you are driving insights through using our tools in exploration and willing to work directly with geologists in the field.
• Ability to explain technical problems to and collaborate on solutions with domain experts who are not Geoscientists. A strong communicator who enjoys working with colleagues across the company.
• Excitement about joining a fast-growing early-stage company, comfort with a dynamic work environment, and eagerness to take on an evolving range of responsibilities.
• Keen not just to build cool technology, but to figure out what technical product to build to best achieve the business objectives of the company.
• A valid passport and willingness to travel to exploration sites around the world, especially during active field seasons.

It is helpful but not required to have:

• Working knowledge of one programming or scripting language (e.g., Python, R) applied to geochemical data
• Knowledge of geostatistics, compositional data analysis, or other statistical methods relevant for analysis of geoscientific data
• Experience with portable XRF and in-field sample preparation as auditable, fit-for-purpose analytical capability
• Experience in environmental geochemistry, including baseline surveys and waste and tailings characterisation
• International experience, particularly in the Central African Copperbelt, or in the pegmatite provinces of central Africa and Namibia
• Professional registration or chartership (e.g., CGeol, FAusIMM, EurGeol, SACNASP)
• Working proficiency in French 

Note: Candidates whose background is in exploration geology with a strong geochemical specialisation, and who want to work as a geochemist across a global portfolio rather than a single project, are encouraged to apply.

KoBold Metals is an equal opportunity workplace and an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunities for people of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, age, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.

This position is Full-time Exempt.

The US base salary range for this full-time exempt position is $140,000-$185,000, plus equity and benefits including 401k matching.

Location: KoBold is a remote-first workplace. All candidates must be legally authorized to work in one of the following countries: United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, United Kingdom, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Finland, Sweden, or Botswana.

Please submit your application to: https://koboldmetals.com/careers/  

What to Expect

Joining KoBold means getting the opportunity for hands-on exposure to our exploration projects around the world. All employees are expected to travel to project sites, with a minimum of one week per year. Field-facing and technical roles spend significantly more time in the field.