Drill & Blast Engineer at Anglo American

Job Description:

As our Drill & Blast Engineer,your responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

Safety, Health and Environment

• Consistently apply Safety and health principles in all team interactions and take personal responsibility for the safety of self and others to ensure zero harm and the elimination of fatalities.

• Function as a role model and support a workplace culture where safety and health for the site are paramount.
• Support an environment for team members to challenge and act on unsafe behaviours without repercussions.

• Support the site leadership team in embedding critical controls into daily work practices.
• Active participation in VFLs, Risk Assessments and close-out of Safety Actions.

Performance and Delivery

Blasting Operations (Standards and Procedures):

• Monitor blasting activities, analyse the results, and provide recommendations for rock fragmentation.
• Inspect and approve blast block designs to ensure safe blasting practices and adherence to established standards.
• Develop drill patterns for blasting operations.
• Ensure that all drill and blast processes follow company policies and procedures.
• Develop procedures for drill and blast operations that meet the standards set by company policies and industry best practices.
• Implement and use systems and procedures to govern the drill and blast processes, ensuring optimal production performance within the 12-month mining production schedule guidelines.

Blast Design Process:

• Identify blast domains applicable at the mine by drill and blast parameters defined according to sound engineering principles. 
• Design drill and blast patterns for each blast domain identified above to optimise fragmentation and satisfy grade control requirements according to the mine’s requirements and the company’s technical standards and guidelines. 
• Continuously improve the blast design process to ensure that advances in principles and applications are incorporated into the performance of the drill and blast processes. 
• Liaise with all relevant personnel to ensure that all drill and blast activities are carried out safely and cost effectively, meet the mine’s requirements, and follow the company’s technical standards and guidelines. 
• Provide advice to relevant stakeholders on surface blasting practices to proactively alleviate or avoid any unnecessary problems and to always ensure statutory compliance.   
• Seek, test, analyse and evaluate the latest blasting technologies and make the necessary recommendations before implementation to ensure viability. 
• Provide technical support on timing, initiation point, blasting sequence, and hole tying to ensure conformance to set standards. 
• Optimise drill pattern and drill sequence for better results.
• Improve drill rod, B11, and hammer performance through optimization.
• Enhance penetration rate by optimising the drilling process.

Drill and Blast Process Management:

• Ensure that all drill and blast activities (drilling, bench/face preparation, charging, blasting, etc.) follow design specifications that satisfy the mine’s requirements and the company’s technical standards and guidelines. 
• Ensure that deviations between the designs and actuals of work done on all drill and blast activities are identified and appropriate actions are taken to mitigate and eliminate the effects of such deviations and minimise the occurrence of such deviations.

Blasting Certification:

• Ensure the level of training of the drilling and blasting personnel is adequate and that their performance is not detracting from real-time gains. This will involve: 
• Listing of general performance based on daily audits. 
• Actions to be taken to correct deviations and improve dispatcher performance. 
• Identify dispatcher training needs and develop training programs to increase dispatcher skills level and performance.

Performance Reporting and Improvement:

• Maintenance of a drill and blast management system to govern all drill and blast activities at the mine. 
• Ensure that all drill and blast results (e.g., fragmentation, environmental impacts, explosives quality, etc.) are measured and reported according to the mine’s requirements and the company’s technical standards and guidelines. 
• Ensure that interested and affected parties are engaged concerning all environmental issues arising from drill and blast activities. 
• Analyse all drill and blast performance data to identify opportunities for performance improvements and liaise with relevant personnel to implement such improvements.

Budget and Cost Control Management:

• Manage the section's expenditure within the approved budget to ensure effective cost control and savings. 

Outputs 

• Compliance with MHSA, statutory, and mine-related SHE regulations.
• Best Practice Standards on efficiency and effectiveness of the blasting process: blasting efficiency, fragmentation efficiency, and utilised blasting technologies.
• Drilling Process: Drill path optimised and above average D&B norms. 
• Accurate financial information.                                                             

This role is in the Technical & Integrated Planning (T&IP) department on a band 6.10 (D1) reporting to the Section Manager Drill & Blast Technical Kolomela.

Qualifications:

• Relevant National Diploma in Mining Engineering or Mining (NQF6)
• B Tech Mining Engineer Degree or other 4-year Mining degrees (advantageous)
• Blasting Ticket
• SA Drivers Licence

Technical Knowledge

• 3-5 years of operational experience as a blasting/drilling specialist in mining production, blasting operations, mine planning and pit layout.
• Understanding the mining lifecycle, value chain, and impact of mining activities.
• Expertise in technical problem-solving using geotechnical knowledge.

Closing Date:

• 20 April, 2026