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Mining Engineer

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This announcement has been extended until January 4, 2021.

Explore a new career with the BLM - where our people are our greatest natural resource.


This position is located in Battle Mountain, Nevada. Information about Battle Mountain, Nevada and the surrounding area can be found at https://landercountytourism.com/battle-mountain.

We expect to fill 3 vacancies at this time; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
12/08/2020 to 01/04/2021
Salary
$64,009 to - $83,210 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 12
Location
3 vacancies in the following location:
Battle Mountain, NV
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
AZMP-21-10982020-MAD
Control number
586502500

Duties

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  • Provides technical assistance and analysis on new Plans of Operations, Amendments to existing Plans and on-going operations.
  • Provides engineering review and recommendations of mine site facilities: roads, waste rock disposal areas, open pit and underground mine workings heap leach facilities, proposed contamination and hazardous material storage and other infrastructure.
  • Verifies that facilities are properly located and works closely with the operator to develop appropriate criteria.
  • Reviews, develops and/or calculates reclamation costs for bonding purposes involving various mining operations, ranging from exploration projects to large heap leach gold mine operations, updates existing bond amounts, as necessary.
  • Responsible for performing advanced professional engineering services. Participation and leadership in developing specific unit and project goals and objectives.
  • Participates in Minerals and Engineering program development and budget operations. Collects, analyses and prepares appropriate reports and records required for program management and project management.
  • Assists in developing current year goals and objectives, allocating current year budgets and workload targets and making recommendations for work force management. Assists in development of schedules to accomplish the annual work program of work.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Be sure to read the How to Apply and Required Documents Sections.
  • You cannot hold an active real estate license: nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
  • Direct Deposit Required.
  • Appointment will be subject to a favorably adjudicated background/suitability investigation/determination.
  • Your resume must contain enough information to show that you meet the qualification requirements as defined in the announcement. In addition, your responses to the questions must adequately reflect in your resume.
  • May require a one year probationary period.

Qualifications

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.

For the GS-11 grade level: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement, you must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-9 level that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity as indicated by the following examples: Assist higher level mining engineers in minerals exploration, development and production activities such as prepare/review exploration plans or the extraction of minerals; Determine mineral reserves, inspect mining operations and reclamation activities.

-OR-

Education: Three (3) years of graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or equivalent doctoral degree in engineering.

- OR-

Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

For the GS-12 grade level: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement you must have one (1) year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-11) in the federal service. Specialized experience at this level, work is difficult requiring a thorough knowledge of the subject matter involved, examples include: Perform work in solid minerals exploration, development and production such as prepare or analyze exploration plans, the extraction of minerals in conformance to lease terms and conditions, or mine plans; determine mineral reserves, inspect mining operations and reclamation activities.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Physical Demands: Although most of the work is in the office, periodic field inspections of exploration and mining projects will be required. Fieldwork requirements may include long periods of driving, riding over rough roads and trails, walking or hiking over mountainous and/or rough terrain, possibly some horseback or off road vehicle riding. Travel in all kinds of weather will be required. Under emergency situations, the Mining Engineer must be prepared to investigate an exploration or mine site regardless of the weather, time of day, or terrain.

Work Environment: Most of the work is performed in an office setting. However, some field work is required in order to conduct inspections of exploration and mining projects. The outdoor environment can range from below freezing temperatures to over 90 degrees F, and from snow or rain to very dry. The use of safety equipment (i.e. hard hat, steel-toed shoes and safety glasses) is mandatory during mine inspections. The Mining Engineer will be required to adhere to an safety rules and regulations as prescribed by the mine operator, MSHA, manuals/supplements or by the designated Safety Officer.

Education

This position has a Basic Requirement:

A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

-OR-

B. Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

1. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.

2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional

You must submit copies of all transcripts or a list of college courses that include hours and grades from an accredited U.S. college/university. If your degree is from a Foreign Institution See Foreign Education.

Additional information

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/e-verify.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/lnteragency Career Transition Assistance Program(ICTAP): CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. Information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility is available from OPM's Career Transition Resources website at CTAP or ICTAP. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration or that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) These vacancies are within your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility; 2) You apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) You are found well qualified for these vacancies. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, or a copy of your separation personnel action form.

CTAP and ICTAP eligibles will be considered well qualified if they receive a minimum score of 90 based on the rating criteria used for this position.

SELECTIVE SERVICE: Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must certify that they have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. To register or verify your registration go to the Selective Service System at https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfRegistration.aspx

Tax Law Impact for PCS: On 22-Dec-2017, Public Law 115-97 - the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 suspended qualified moving expense deductions along with the exclusion for employer reimbursements and payments of moving expenses effective 01-Jan-2018 for tax years 2018 through 2025. The law made taxable certain reimbursements and other payments, including driving mileage, airfare and lodging expenses, en-route travel to the new duty station, and temporary storage of those items. The Federal Travel Regulation Bulletin (FTR) 18-05 issued by General Services Administration (GSA) has authorized agencies to use the Withholding Tax Allowance (WTA) and Relocation Income Tax Allowance (RITA) to pay for "substantially all" of the increased tax liability resulting from the "2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" for certain eligible individuals. For additional information on WTA/RITA allowances and eligibilities, please visit:
https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/regulations/federal-travel-regulation-ftr/i1182168#i1180710

The official worksite for the selectee is the duty station identified in this vacancy announcement. The selectee will typically report to this duty location on a regular and recurring weekly basis. The selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

This announcement is being advertised concurrently under number AZDE-21-10982018-DBS, which is open to all qualified persons. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods.

BLM may use certain incentives, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract high quality applicants.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document, you do not have in electronic form; view the following link for information regarding an Alternative Application

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Resumes must show relevant experience and other information. Your resume must list your education and work experience including the dates (mm/yyyy) of each employment along with the number of hours worked per week and optional salary information. In describing your experience, please be clear and specific. Visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information on What should I include in my federal resume?

Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). Failure to provide required information will result in loss of eligibility. You are welcome to submit an optional cover letter.

You will be evaluated based on how your application materials reflect the qualification requirements of this position.

Once the application process is complete, we will review your application to ensure you meet the job requirements. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your resume, supporting documentation and responses to the online questionnaire will be made. Your responses to the online questionnaire will be used to measure the degree to which your background matches the requirements for this position. However, your resume must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. The best qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be contacted for an interview.

Your answers to the online questionnaire will be used to evaluate your competencies in the following areas:

Mining Engineering, Project Management, Requirements Analysis, Technical Competence

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