Process Technician, Processing Planner, Metallurgical Technician, Senior Plant

Five roles. One North Queensland gold processing operation.

Sabre Engineering supplies operational and technical personnel to major resource projects across Australia. We're recruiting five separate positions supporting a high-tonnage open-cut gold operation in North Queensland, around 90 minutes from Townsville:

• Process Technician - 8/6 day shift or 7/7 night shift, 12-hour shifts
• Processing Planner - 4/3, day shift only
• Metallurgical Technician - 8/6, day shift only
• Senior Plant Metallurgist - 8/6
• Laboratory Supervisor - 8/6, day shift only

All five are site-based, drive-in drive-out, with camp accommodation and meals provided while on shift. Rosters and requirements differ by position, so read the section that applies to you. The plant runs crushing, grinding, leaching, CIL/CIP adsorption, elution and gold recovery.

These roles are contract positions engaged through Sabre. That means competitive hourly rates, and when this contract wraps we keep you in front of other Queensland gold and base metals operations rather than leaving you to start again.

Send a CV. That's it - no cover letter, no PDF requirements, and we won't ask you to name a salary figure before we've told you what the role pays. Nominate which position you're interested in, and if you could suit more than one, nominate them all - we'll assess you against each.

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PROCESS TECHNICIAN
Roster: 8 days on / 6 days off (day shift) OR 7 days on / 7 days off (night shift)
Shift: 12-hour shifts
Location: North Queensland, site-based processing plant. Camp accommodation and meals provided while on shift.

Front-line operating role in a gold processing plant, with a day or night roster option. You'll be running plant, not watching it - start-ups, shutdowns, upsets and the day-to-day of holding a circuit steady.

What you'll be doing
• Operating and monitoring processing plant equipment across your allocated area
• Plant start-ups, shutdowns and circuit changeovers
• Routine inspections, sampling and in-field process checks
• Control room and SCADA work as required, and out in the field
• First-line maintenance and raising defects
• Troubleshooting process upsets with supervisors and metallurgists

What we're looking for
• Hands-on mineral processing plant experience - Process Technician, Process Operator, Plant Operator, Senior Process Technician, Control Room Operator or Process Plant Operator
• Experience across some of: crushing and conveying; grinding and milling; flotation; leaching; CIL/CIP; elution; electrowinning; reagents; control room / SCADA; plant start-ups and shutdowns
• Gold processing experience is highly regarded - it is not essential. If you're out of base metals or another mineral processing environment and your circuit experience transfers, put your CV in
• You don't need every area on that list. Credible plant operating experience is what counts

Why consider it
• Two roster options - 8/6 days or 7/7 nights
• Camp accommodation and meals provided while on shift
• Full flowsheet exposure at a gold operation, crushing through to gold recovery
• Sabre recruits Process Technicians across Queensland on an ongoing basis, so a strong CV with us doesn't sit idle

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PROCESSING PLANNER
Roster: 4 days on / 3 days off
Shift: Day shift only
Location: North Queensland, DIDO approx. 1.5 hours from Townsville. Camp accommodation and meals provided while on shift.

Planning role sitting inside Processing rather than bolted onto Maintenance. You'll own the weekly plan for the plant and the site laboratory, and carry it through shutdowns and plant modifications as well as routine work. The 4/3 day-shift-only roster is rare on a fixed plant.

What you'll be doing
• Building the weekly work schedules for Processing and the site laboratory
• Planning routine operations, maintenance, inspections, monitoring and housekeeping
• Preparing job packs, work scopes and resource requirements
• Coordinating shutdown preparation, plant modifications and complex work packages
• Tracking backlog, compliance to plan and work management KPIs
• Lining up parts, labour and external vendors
• Keeping CMMS task lists, templates and planning processes current

What we're looking for
• 4+ years in either fixed plant electrical maintenance, or Processing Operator / Maintainer roles
• Practical understanding of how processing and maintenance work gets executed - P&IDs, process flows, task requirements
• CMMS experience, ideally Pronto, plus Excel and MS Project
• SCADA experience and exposure to automated or semi-automated plant
• Working knowledge of group isolations and isolation permits - Group Isolation Controller experience well regarded
• Strong organisational, communication and problem-solving skills

Why consider it
• 4/3 roster, day shift only
• Camp accommodation and meals while on shift
• Suits a Maintenance Planner or Fixed Plant Planner wanting processing-side ownership, or an experienced operator/maintainer stepping into planning off the tools
• Routine work, shutdowns and plant mods - not a narrow scheduling seat

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METALLURGICAL TECHNICIAN
Roster: 8 days on / 6 days off
Shift: Day shift only
Location: North Queensland, DIDO approx. 1.5 hours from Townsville. Camp accommodation and meals provided while on shift.

Hands-on met tech role in the Processing team, reporting to the Senior Metallurgist. Real technical content - bench test work, plant surveys and process control instrumentation, not just sample prep. One of the cleaner paths into a metallurgy career.

What you'll be doing
• Collecting representative samples from sampling stations and live process streams
• Routine metallurgical test work, including gold recovery and cyanide leach testing
• Supporting metallurgists on plant surveys, sampling campaigns, process trials and bench-scale test work
• Calibrating, maintaining and monitoring process control instrumentation - pH, DO and cyanide meters, cyanide analysers, density gauges, belt weighers, automatic samplers
• Isolating radiation sources and calibrating density gauges to site procedure
• Working with Maintenance on instrument reliability and performance issues
• Running the sample chain end to end - labelling, receipting, preparation, storage, traceability

What we're looking for
• Previous experience in a mining, mineral processing or laboratory environment is preferred - this one is open to people still building their metallurgy career
• A methodical approach and accurate data and record keeping - the plant makes decisions off your numbers
• Solid workplace health, safety and environmental awareness

Why consider it
• 8/6, day shift only, with camp accommodation and meals provided
• Genuine technical exposure - test work, plant surveys, process control instrumentation
• Direct line into a metallurgy team at a gold operation, the usual step towards metallurgist roles

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SENIOR PLANT METALLURGIST
Roster: 8 days on / 6 days off, DIDO
Location: North Queensland, site-based. Camp accommodation and meals provided while on roster.

Senior technical role owning plant metallurgical performance - recovery, throughput and efficiency - at one of Australia's larger open-cut gold operations, with a team of plant metallurgists to lead and mentor.

What you'll be doing
• Owning metallurgical performance monitoring and plant optimisation
• Interrogating plant data to find recovery, throughput and efficiency gains
• Providing technical direction and mentoring to plant metallurgists and processing teams
• Developing and landing metallurgical improvement initiatives
• Overseeing plant surveys, sampling programs and metallurgical test work
• Troubleshooting performance issues and closing them out
• Working with operations on plant control and process stability
• Keeping metallurgical accounting and reconciliation accurate and on time
• Feeding into production planning, forecasting and budgeting
• Collaborating with geology, mining and technical services

What we're looking for
• Tertiary qualification in Metallurgy, Mineral Processing or Chemical Engineering
• Extensive gold processing and plant metallurgy experience - this position does require gold
• Strong understanding of the full circuit: crushing, milling, leaching, adsorption, elution and gold recovery
• Demonstrated plant optimisation and metallurgical performance improvement outcomes
• Experience leading a metallurgical team or holding technical leadership
• Strong analytical, data interpretation and troubleshooting skills
• Experience with metallurgical accounting and reporting systems

Why consider it
• 8/6 DIDO with camp accommodation and meals while on roster
• Technical ownership of plant performance at a large open-cut gold operation
• Leadership and mentoring scope across a metallurgy team
• Modern processing facilities and an established technical group
• Direct, measured influence on recovery and throughput

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LABORATORY SUPERVISOR
Roster: 8 days on / 6 days off
Shift: Day shift only
Location: North Queensland, DIDO approx. 1.5 hours from Townsville. Camp accommodation and meals provided while on shift.

Run the onsite laboratory day to day, reporting to the site Chemist and supervising a team of Laboratory Technicians. Turnaround and accuracy out of this lab drive Processing and Metallurgy decisions, plus Geology and Exploration work.

What you'll be doing
• Supervising daily laboratory operations so analytical and metallurgical testing lands safely, accurately and on time
• Leading, mentoring and supporting Laboratory Technicians, and setting the safety tone
• Coordinating sample receipt, preparation, analysis, reporting and workflow through LIMS
• Holding the line on QA/QC standards, lab procedures and site safety and environmental requirements
• Operating, maintaining, calibrating and troubleshooting laboratory equipment
• Allocating daily workloads against operational priorities, supporting Processing, Metallurgy, Geology and Exploration
• Managing consumables, documentation and routine reporting
• Driving improvements in lab safety, efficiency and turnaround - and getting on the bench when the workload calls for it

What we're looking for
• Previous experience in a mining, mineral processing or laboratory environment is preferred
• You'll be leading a team of technicians, so experience supervising, mentoring or coordinating laboratory personnel will put you in a strong position
• Exposure to LIMS - the lab's sample and reporting workflow runs through it
• A working understanding of QA/QC in an analytical laboratory
• Accuracy, attention to detail and the organisational ability to juggle competing priorities

Why consider it
• 8/6, day shift only, with camp accommodation and meals provided
• A genuine supervisory role - you own the lab's daily output and lead the technician group
• Sits close to the plant: your results drive Processing and Metallurgy decisions
• Step up for an experienced Laboratory Technician ready to lead, or a lateral move for a Lab Supervisor wanting a site-based gold operation

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HOW TO APPLY

Apply through SEEK with a current CV - a cover letter is not required. Nominate which position you're interested in, and if you could suit more than one, nominate each one you'd consider.

Every application gets read by a person and you'll hear back either way. If you'd rather talk it through first, or you're not sure which of these fits you best, call [CONTACT NAME] on [PHONE] - happy to have the conversation before you send anything through.

Rates are discussed openly on the first call. We'll tell you what the role pays rather than asking you to guess first.

Preferred candidates will complete standard pre-employment checks including a medical assessment and police check.

Sabre Engineering - operational, technical and trades personnel to the Australian resources sector. We work across gold and base metals operations throughout Queensland, so if the timing isn't right on these five, we'll keep you in mind for what's next.