Colombia: 15 Project Critical Roles for TSX-listed Gold Producer

Earlier this year, we worked with a TSX-listed gold miner to build their leadership team for a major expansion project in Colombia.

The $280m expansion project included a new underground mine and ore processing plant.

Meeting talent challenges

Attracting senior-level executive talent with international mining experience is a tough task for any talent team.

The Colombian gold industry is small by global comparison but has a long history. Miners in this region usually struggle to attract the right strategically skilled candidates when they are based in the capital cities—and this is even harder when the roles are for challenging and remote mine sites.

This project was particularly complex in its scope and required successful candidates to relocate to Colombia.

Because of this, the operations director and internal recruitment team were battling to find experienced candidates for 15 project critical roles, including:

•  Senior Civil Engineer
• Senior Planner
• Project Manager
• Senior SMP Engineer
• Senior Process Engineer
• Senior Project Controls Manager
• Deputy Project Manager

With the first pour scheduled 24 months out, the team was under pressure to get the right people in place. So, they gave us a call.

Understanding the landscape

We had worked with the Colombian team at this mining company for years, sourcing local candidates for technical roles at one of their remote mine sites, explained Maira Rosso, Globe 24-7 Regional Manager – Latin America.

“They trusted that we could easily find people in Colombia and other countries, too. And that those candidates would have the technical expertise and be the right cultural fit for the new project,” says Maira.

“When this project was given the green light, we had a good understanding of who they wanted and when they needed to be onsite to hit the ground running.”

Global networks for local success

Using our extensive local and global networks, we provided a shortlist of highly skilled talent from within Colombia and internationally for the key roles.

As part of this process, we undertook all pre-employment checks, scheduled interviews and medicals and worked with the onsite team to onboard the successful candidates.

This took the pressure off both the head office and the local recruitment team.

It reduced their project burden during the ramp-up phase of the project and gave them confidence they had the right people in place to take the project forward.

Expansion ready for success

The project is positioned for success with the roles filled. With a highly experienced Project Manager and technical team at the helm, this client is one step closer to meeting their targets and developing a world-class mine.