Lead Resource Geologist | Houston, TX | San Francisco, CA

Job Description

Company: Mariana Minerals
Location: Houston, Texas; San Francisco, California, United States (On-site)
Category: Geology and Exploration
Job Type: Full-time
Experience Level: Senior-Level
Experience: 10-15 years
Salary: $140,000 – $175,000 USD/year

Job Summary
Mariana Minerals is seeking a Lead Resource Geologist to support resource development, mine geology, and technical studies across open pit and underground mining projects.

This role focuses on geological interpretation, resource modeling, grade control, mine planning inputs, resource growth, and technical studies for nickel and copper systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Own geological and mineral resource model governance, including assumptions, documentation, uncertainty, and technical defensibility
• Build, update, and maintain geological and resource models for open pit and underground mine designs
• Interpret lithology, structure, alteration, and mineralization using drilling, mapping, and sampling data
• Apply domain-based modeling approaches and geostatistical methods for nickel and copper deposit types
• Provide geological inputs to mine planning and scheduling, including ore/waste boundaries, grade trends, and structural controls
• Support grade control strategies and short-term geological models in open pit and underground environments
• Drive near-mine resource growth through targeting, drill prioritization, and model-driven exploration
• Provide geological inputs to reserve conversion, including modifying factors, dilution assumptions, and model validation
• Work with mine planners, mining engineers, and geotechnical teams to ensure geological models are fit-for-purpose
• Translate geological uncertainty and risk into clear planning and engineering inputs
• Support technical studies across conceptual, PEA, PFS, and FS stages
• Ensure high standards for geological data quality, QA/QC, documentation, and reporting code compliance
• Review and validate drilling, sampling, and assay data prior to model incorporation
• Provide geological oversight for drilling, logging, sampling, field mapping, underground mapping, and face mapping
• Support or lead reconciliation of geological and resource models against production data

Qualifications
– Bachelor’s degree in Geology, Geological Engineering, or a related field; Master’s preferred
– 10+ years of progressive experience in mine and/or resource geology

• Experience supporting both open pit and underground mining operations
• Direct experience with nickel and copper mineral systems
• Strong applied geostatistical and mineral resource estimation experience
• Experience with domaining, variography, classification, and reporting
• Proficiency with geological modeling and estimation software such as Leapfrog, Datamine, Vulcan, or Micromine
• Strong understanding of geological controls on mineralization and their implications for mining
• Ability to communicate geological concepts clearly to non-geologists
• Willingness to work across office and site environments as needed
• Professional Geologist certification or eligibility preferred
• Experience leading mineral resource estimates under reporting codes such as NI 43-101, JORC, or CRIRSCO-aligned standards
• Experience in greenfield or brownfield exploration programs tied to active mines preferred

What We Can Offer You

• Estimated base salary of $140,000 – $175,000 USD/year
• Equity offer as part of the compensation package
• Opportunity to support resource development for a mission-driven critical minerals company
• Exposure to open pit and underground mining projects
• Opportunity to contribute to resource modeling, mine planning, and technical studies
• Collaborative work with mine planning, mining engineering, geotechnical, and operations teams
• Collaborative culture focused on ownership, automation, and knowledge sharing

Why This Role Matters
This role is important because it helps Mariana Minerals build technically sound geological and resource models that support mine planning, engineering decisions, resource growth, and economic evaluation across critical minerals projects.

Apply
👉 Apply online: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/marianaminerals/58a57907-5fc3-4ff9-82dc-d4d50a423fb1

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