Senior Director of Mining Processing Plant Operations
industrial_energy_operations › Mining Processing Plant · M6 — M6 — Vice President · Management
Senior executive leading all ore crushing, grinding, and metal extraction and refining operations across one or more processing plants.
Median pay · United States · annual
$241,631 USD
▲ +182.2% vs M1 on this ladder
Typical range ()
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Key statistics
The identity block — every fact is canon, none is generated.
6 of 8
Track
Management
Family rungs priced
M1 · M2 · M3 · M4 · M5 · M6
Coordinates
3 / 4 spaces
pay@2 · 2026-07
What this role is
Senior executive leading all ore crushing, grinding, and metal extraction and refining operations across one or more processing plants. At the Vice President (M6) level, the role owns a major function or division, enterprise priorities and external factors, and drives division-wide / organization-wide. Leads the leadership of a division.
What this level does
- Lead processing operations across multiple plants, functions or a division, shaping long-term strategy that affects overall company success.
- Set the direction for how the orebody feeds the process across sites — driving geometallurgy, resource modelling and equipment-selection strategy for current and future operations.
- Direct through senior managers, resolving abstract cross-functional issues spanning geology, metallurgy, maintenance, environmental and commercial functions.
- Negotiate with executives, regulators and major partners on critical production, capital and compliance matters, acting as a policy influencer for processing standards.
- Sponsor multi-year, business-wide continuous-improvement and capital programs that reposition processing capability and cost structure.
- Knowledge applied
- Sets long-term processing strategy across multiple plants or a division, spanning resource evaluation through recovery.
- Complexity & problem solving
- Addresses abstract, cross-functional issues spanning geology, metallurgy, environment and commercial factors.
- Collaboration & interaction
- Negotiates with executives and regulators on critical matters; influences processing policy across the business.
- Typical experience
- 12–15+ years of deep leadership across processing departments or divisions.
Skills at this level
- Safety and Environmental Compliance
- — Ensures mineral processing operations meet environmental regulations and safety standards, maintaining risk assessments, defect reporting and regulatory standing across plant circuits.
- Process Plant Operation
- — Operates and monitors all areas of the processing plant — crushing, screening, milling, thickening, leaching, CIL and gold/metal recovery — observing meters, gauges and control panels to keep circuits running safely and efficiently.
- Process Optimization
- — Makes changes in plant processes to optimize throughput, recovery and efficiency, tuning operating parameters against production targets and cost.
- Machine Setup and Operation
- — Sets up and operates stationary plant and machinery that grind, crush, cut, saw and slice rocks, minerals and stones according to job specifications.
- Malfunction Detection and Maintenance Support
- — Detects equipment malfunctions from meter and control-panel readings and supports plant and machinery maintenance and repair, reporting plant defects for resolution.
- Shift Production Recording
- — Records information about processing completed during shifts, including quantities, types and dimensions of materials produced, for handover and reporting.
- Team Leadership and Mentoring
- — Manages a mineral processing team, defining roles and responsibilities, mentoring and motivating operators and metallurgists, and driving continuous improvement.
- Technical Problem Solving
- — Solves complex material and process-related problems in the plant, providing technical expertise and coaching to metallurgists, technicians and refiners.
- Plant Budget and Cost Management
- — Owns operating budgets and consumables (grinding media, reagents) for the plant, managing cost per tonne and prioritizing improvement and capital-related spend.
- Geometallurgy and Resource Integration
- — Integrates orebody and feed characteristics into plant operation and equipment selection through familiarity with geometallurgy and resource modelling.
- Regulated Qualifications
- — Achieves and maintains appropriate regulated operating qualifications, such as the MPQC Level 2 Diploma in Mineral Products Mobile Plant Operations, and supports team certification.
- Continuous Improvement Program Leadership
- — Undertakes and sponsors projects and multi-year programs to improve production plant performance, managing consultants and cross-functional stakeholders.
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As of · 2026-07-30
Edition · canon-v2@2.1.0-complete
Source · canon-v2 cell + salary-benchmark (model)
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