Job DescriptionPosition DescriptionOur engineering team is looking for a Senior Mechanical Engineer - Mine Utility Systems at our Cortez operation. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership for underground and surface mine water and compressed air infrastructure, with a focus on system modeling, as-built documentation, future mine planning, troubleshooting, reliability improvement, and project support.
This role will develop and maintain models and drawings for existing and future mine utility systems so mechanical infrastructure is planned, modified, documented, and commissioned through clear engineering ownership, field-verified records, disciplined change control, and consistent project turnover standards. The role will also provide mechanical engineering support for fixed-plant equipment such as conveyors, crushers, and related material handling systems.
Responsibilities- Develop, maintain, and validate models for existing and future underground and surface mine utility systems, including dewatering, process water, utility water, compressed air, tanks, sumps, pumps, compressors, piping networks, and pressure zones.
- Maintain accurate as-built drawings and system records for mine water and compressed air infrastructure, including piping layouts, pump stations, compressor stations, valve locations, receivers, tie-ins, meters, instrumentation, and control points.
- Support future mine planning by evaluating water and compressed air capacity, pump and compressor station placement, pipe sizing, pressure management, redundancy, and long-term operating requirements.
- Establish and support mechanical utility documentation practices, including field verification, drawing updates, model updates, management of change, commissioning records, and project turnover requirements.
- Troubleshoot system issues such as low flow, low pressure, excessive pressure drop, pump cavitation, water hammer, compressor capacity shortfalls, leaks, moisture carryover, pipeline failures, valve problems, and unreliable dewatering performance.
- Perform pump, piping, and compressed air analysis, including pump curve review, compressor performance review, system curve development, head loss calculations, NPSH evaluation, receiver sizing, pipe sizing, flow balancing, and operating envelope definition.
- Provide mechanical engineering support for conveyors, crushers, and related fixed-plant or material handling equipment, including review of reliability issues, equipment modifications, guarding, chutes, drives, structural interfaces, and maintainability improvements.
- Provide technical review of consultant, contractor, and vendor deliverables, including calculations, models, drawings, specifications, scopes of work, test plans, redlines, and commissioning records.
- Provide oversight for construction, installation, commissioning, startup, and performance testing of mine utility systems and related mechanical infrastructure.
- Coordinate with underground operations, maintenance, mine engineering, survey, planning, projects, consultants, and contractors to keep models and as-builts aligned with field conditions.
- Support reliability improvement and asset management for pumps, compressors, dryers, filters, piping, tanks, receivers, valves, sumps, conveyors, crushers, and related mechanical system components.
- Identify opportunities to improve utility capacity, energy efficiency, standardization, maintainability, safety, and long-term planning across underground and surface operations.
- Ensure mechanical utility system work complies with MSHA requirements, site safety procedures, environmental requirements, applicable codes, engineering standards, and management-of-change processes.
Qualifications- Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering required.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license or successful completion of the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam preferred.
- Minimum of five years of mechanical engineering experience required, preferably in mining, underground mine infrastructure, industrial utility systems, water systems, compressed air systems, or heavy industrial environments.
- Experience with hydraulic modeling, compressed air system analysis, pump and piping analysis, water distribution, dewatering, or industrial utility systems required.
- Experience with modeling software such as AFT Fathom, PIPE-FLO, Bentley WaterGEMS/WaterCAD, EPANET, AFT Arrow, or similar preferred; surge analysis experience with AFT Impulse or Bentley HAMMER preferred.
- Strong knowledge of pumps, compressors, dryers, receivers, pump curves, compressor curves, system curves, piping networks, valves, tanks, sumps, pressure zones, head loss, pressure drop, flow measurement, and mine utility system operation required.
- Working knowledge of conveyors, crushers, chutes, drives, bearings, guarding, material handling systems, and fixed-plant mechanical reliability preferred.
- Experience maintaining or reviewing as-built drawings, piping layouts, mechanical drawings, P&IDs, construction redlines, and turnover documentation required.
- Experience managing consultants, contractors, vendors, scopes of work, technical reviews, schedules, budgets, and project deliverables required.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office and AutoCAD required; experience with Civil 3D, Plant 3D, Navisworks, Bluebeam, GIS tools, SAP, or similar platforms preferred.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work safely in field and underground environments required.
What We Can Offer You- A comprehensive compensation package including competitive medical, dental, and vision plans with national provider networks, a 401k retirement plan with employer contribution and employer match, paid time off, company-sponsored medical clinics, a company match share purchase program, and much more.
- Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team.
- Endless opportunities to grow and learn with industry colleagues.
- Access to a variety of career opportunities across the organization.
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