General Manager - Mining

General Manager - Mining oversees all mining operations on site, ensuring production, safety, cost control, and compliance targets are consistently achieved while leading a large multidisciplinary team. The role in Central Africa will focus on open-cast operations, high equipment utilization, and strict adherence to statutory and environmental norms.
Position details

Job Title: General Manager - Mining

Location: Central Africa

Department: Mining - Operations

Reports To: CAM / VP - Mining and Unit Head

Employment Type: Full-time / Permanent

Experience: Minimum 15 + years in mining, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership role in large open-cast operations.

Qualification:

- Bachelor's/Master's degree in Mining Engineering

- Valid Mine Manager's Certificate of Competency (as per applicable regulations)

Role overview:

- The General Manager - Mining will be responsible for end-to-end management of surface mining operations, from planning and drilling through blasting, loading, hauling, and dispatch.

- The incumbent will drive safe, efficient, and cost-effective production, ensuring achievement of monthly and annual targets while maintaining full compliance with DGMS or equivalent African regulatory frameworks and environmental standards.

- The role requires strong leadership to manage a multicultural workforce, contractors, and key external stakeholders, including government authorities and local communities.

Key responsibilities:

Operational management:

- Oversee day-to-day mining operations including drilling, blasting, loading, hauling, dumping, and run-of-mine stockpile management.

- Implement short-term, medium-term, and life-of-mine plans in coordination with mine planning, geology, and survey teams.

- Ensure optimal deployment and utilization of HEMM, auxiliary equipment, and support services to meet production and productivity goals.

- Monitor daily operational reports, identify bottlenecks, and drive corrective actions for continuous improvement.

Production and planning:

- Develop and execute monthly, quarterly, and annual production plans aligned with business objectives and mine design.

- Coordinate with geology and grade control teams to optimize pit designs, strip ratios, and ore quality, ensuring consistent ore feed to the plant.

- Track key production KPIs such as tons mined, ore-to-waste ratios, and capacity utilization, taking timely action to close gaps vs targets (- 95% of plan).

Safety, health and environment (SHE):

- Champion a safety-first culture across the mine, ensuring strict adherence to all safety procedures, PPE usage, and permit-to-work systems.

- Lead and support investigations into incidents, near-misses, and LTIs, ensuring root cause analysis and implementation of corrective and preventive actions to achieve Zero LTI.

- Ensure compliance with environmental regulations and company sustainability standards, including dust, noise, water management, waste disposal, and land reclamation, targeting zero non-compliance.

Regulatory compliance:

- Ensure mining operations comply with DGMS (or equivalent African mining authority) requirements and all applicable mining, labor, and environmental laws.

- Maintain up-to-date statutory records, licenses, consents, and certifications and ensure readiness for internal and external audits and inspections.

- Act as or support the legally accountable appointee as per local Mine Health and Safety legislation where applicable.

Cost and budget control:

- Prepare, justify, and manage the annual mining budget, including drilling and blasting, fuel, consumables, manpower, contractors, and maintenance costs.

- Monitor cost per ton mined, identify variances versus budget, and implement cost-optimization and productivity-improvement initiatives to remain within approved budgets (- 5% variance).

- Work closely with maintenance and supply chain teams to optimize spare parts, inventory, and fuel consumption, minimizing unplanned downtime (- 5%).

Team leadership and people development:

- Lead, motivate, and mentor a diverse team of mine managers, engineers, supervisors, and operators to deliver high performance.

- Conduct regular performance reviews, identify high-potential talent, and create development and succession plans for critical roles.

- Drive structured training programs to ensure at least 2 days of technical and safety training per employee per quarter, improving manpower productivity by 5-10% year-on-year.

Stakeholder and community management:

- Coordinate closely with internal departments such as maintenance, processing, logistics, HR, finance, and security to ensure smooth mine operations.

- Liaise with government authorities, local administration, and regulators for permits, inspections, and statutory reporting.

- Build and maintain positive relationships with local communities and community leaders, supporting CSR initiatives and addressing grievances proactively