PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Professional Engineering Degree, Extractive Metallurgy, Colorado School of Mines

Experienced project engineer, process engineer, and plant operations engineer/superintendent with extensive experience in studies, evaluation, basic and detailed engineering design, construction, commissioning, and operation of metallurgical plants.  Experience includes Outokumpu flash smelter, Outokumpu Kennecott flash smelter and converter, INCO flash, Noranda reactor and Teniente converter, Outokumpu direct blister flash smelter, Mitsubishi continuous smelting process, AUSMELT/ISASMELT process, reverbs, roasters, Asarco shaft furnace, Peirce-Smith converters, ore and concentrate leaching, high purity water production, IX, SX/EW, and ISA and Kidd Process permanent cathode electrolytic refining technology. 

Commissioning Field Engineer for startup of (7) 2400 gpm Ion Exchange modules loading Zn from 230 ^oF brine and eluting it with RO quality water produced from (4) plants treating agricultural canal water using clarification, multimedia filtration, cartridge filtration and reverse osmosis.  IX product was treated in SX-EW plant and Zinc was cast into shapes.

As USA Agent for DRP, evaluated and recommended purchase of used smelter equipment and just completed  supervising the dismantling, packaging and shipping of over 400 tonnes of equipment from the US to Peru.

Study Manager for the La Oroya plant 10 Year Master Plan to meet the production goals, capital planning, and environmental requirements of the Doe Run Company and the purchase agreement with Centromin.  The study recommended process and operations improvements to reduce costs and improve product quality.  Also, proposed innovative approaches to provide future project capitalization from increased cash flow generated by proposed processes to treat feed materials and existing by-product inventories. 

Provided consulting, oversight, and study management for PAMA 1 projects to meet Peruvian gas and particulate emissions regulations, fire refining and copper anode casting, lead and copper refinery slimes and precious metals plant modernization, plant cooling water systems, waste water collection and treatment, slag dewatering, copper refinery impurity management and bleed treatment, and various short term process and operations improvement studies.

Project Engineer for $1.1 billion grassroots copper project.  In charge of assembling scopes of work and work package descriptions.  Production of P&ID's and equipment technical specifications.

Lead Process Engineer for the feasibility study and basic engineering design of a grassroots 200,000 mtpy copper smelter and refinery project.  The smelter incorporates the Mitsubishi Continuous Smelting Process.  The ISA permanent cathode technology was installed in the electrolytic refinery.

Smelter Project Engineer coordinating the Outokumpu basic engineering design package with engineering by the Fluor Daniel/Davy joint venture.  Also responsible for Fluor Daniel/Davy detail engineering coordination with the FDD coordinator at the acid plant contractor’s home office.  The plant is designed to treat 1.1 million tpy of copper concentrates using the Kennecott Outokumpu flash smelting and converting process. 

Smelter Project Engineer for 200,000 tpy copper smelter slated to use the Mitsubishi Continuous Smelting process.  Visited Mitsubishi Naoshima smelter, prepared engineering estimates and acid plant contract specification, and reviewed the Mitsubishi basic engineering package for the smelter.  The project was canceled after encountering extended permitting delays.

Project/Process Engineer for basic engineering.  Project involved processing of desulfurized lead paste, use of electrolyte concentration, electrowinning cells, cathode treatment, washing, stripping and preparation for 10,000 tpy lead electrowinning plant.  Process used state-of-the-art technology and equipment developed by Engitec Impianti of Milan, Italy.

Project equipment engineer on fast track project for plant designed to treat 10,000 tpd ore from open-pit mine in a CIL circuit with acid wash and pressure strip using an electrowinning circuit and induction furnace.  Specified crushing, grinding, thickening, dewatering, screening, and carbon regeneration equipment, evaluated bids, made purchase recommendations, issued requisitions, and provided vendor data and design coordination.  $113 million project was completed in 11 months; one month ahead of schedule and under budget.

Engineering Manager for engineering, procurement and construction management for 120,000 stpy secondary lead smelter.  Plant is designed to produce 60,000 tons of refined lead per year from SLI and industrial batteries.  System uses battery breakers, screens, hydrodynamic separators, desulfurizing, filtration, lead paste feed to reverberatory furnace, refining and hygiene ventilation system. 

Due diligence review and operations audit for a smelter equity acquisition.

As Smelter Project Metallurgical Engineer provided specialist design input to all areas of the smelter designed to smelt leached high grade concentrates in an Outokumpu flash furnace directly to 55,000 mtpy of blister copper.  The plant was designed to be expanded with the addition of another flash furnace to become an Outokumpu Kennecott smelter.  Developed specifications, performed technical proposal evaluations, and provided design coordination and contract administration for installation of 100 mtpd gaseous oxygen plant and 335 mtpd sulfuric acid plant.

Lead Smelter Process Engineer for the technical study that determined the feasibility of this major copper, gold, and uranium project, with responsibility for evaluation of testwork and process selection, major equipment selection, plant layouts, process design, and preparation of smelter capital and operating costs.  A $23 million pilot plant was constructed which included an AUSMELT/ISASMELT test furnace to produce matte or blister copper. The Outokumpu direct blister flash smelting process was selected.  Other processes examined during the study for various production levels included electric furnace smelting with Mitsubishi Continuous Converter and the Kennecott Outokumpu flash smelting and flash converting process. Study included ore leaching, concentrate leaching, swx-ew, and electrorefining. Conducted leached concentrate filter comparison tests and made equipment recommendations.

Lead Project Process Engineer.  Supervised preparation of flowsheets, P&IDs and technical data for specifications.  Coordinated technical input for smelter design with Japanese joint venture partner.  Provided technical and operating input to all plant facilities design, also performed evaluation, recommendation, and requisitioning of major smelter equipment.  The plant has a design capacity of 180,000 mtpy of copper using the Outokumpu flash smelting process.

Technical Services Department Head responsible for the plant metallurgical staff, computer department, and analytical laboratory including a staff of 40.  Technical responsibility for an Outokumpu flash smelter producing 165,000 tpy anode copper and 300,000 tpy of sulfuric acid.  Participated in preparations for modification of the flash furnace during a major rebuild turnaround.

Senior Process Engineer from initial study phase through completion of construction.  Provided 2 months job site start-up assistance.  Technical responsibility for reactor, converter, and gas handling areas, including material and heat balances, gas handling temperature and pressure profile study, molten material handling study, uptake load and infiltration study, process and instrumentation drawing criteria, equipment specifications, bid evaluation, acid proof refractory installation subcontract preparation and award, purchase requisitions for process equipment, expediting and shop inspection of uptake assemblies, equipment data sheets, start-up, and operating manuals. 

Process and project engineer for installation of 25 gpm high pressure boiler feed water plant treating brackish water using multi media and ultra filtration and reverse osmosis.

Supervised reverb, roaster, and converter production for efficient smelter operation and sulfuric acid production during intermittent air pollution curtailment.  Process control was an important duty in this plant employing some of the most complex metallurgy in the copper industry. Operating experience in Tacoma included full technical and operating responsibility for the Asarco shaft furnace for melting refined cathode copper and casting 60 tph of wire bars; for refining blister copper containing high levels of precious metals and impurities such as arsenic, antimony, and nickel; and for casting 15,000 tpm anode shapes using both reverberatory and tilting-type furnaces. 

Duties included technical and operating responsibility for concentrate receiving and sampling, reverb furnaces, roasters and converters; established basis for $13 million plant expansion and conducted tests for reverb furnace bottom design.  Directed burn-in, start-up and operation of the new furnace during major smelter expansion project.