Engineering Geologist

We are an ambitious climate-tech company developing innovative processes to mitigate ocean acidification and realise atmospheric CO₂ removal, also known as negative emissions. Our multidisciplinary team combines electrochemistry, mineral processing, and marine systems engineering to turn breakthrough concepts into robust pilot and industrial installations.

We are looking for an Engineering Geologist to help us understand, select, characterise, and process the mineral materials used in our technology.

This is not a purely academic geology role. You will connect geology and mineralogy to crushing, grinding, separation, dissolution, material handling, process behaviour, residue quality, and industrial supply chains. The work sits between geoscience, mineral processing, chemical engineering, environmental performance, and practical plant development.

What you will do

• Characterise mineral feedstocks based on geology, mineralogy, chemistry, texture, grain size, weathering, and variability.
• Assess the suitability of different mineral sources for acid neutralisation and ocean alkalinity applications.
• Develop sampling strategies for quarries, stockpiles, bulk shipments, process streams, and residues.
• Specify and interpret analytical methods such as XRF, XRD, ICP, particle-size analysis, microscopy, and mineralogical mapping.
• Investigate mineral dissolution behaviour, reaction kinetics, impurities, passivation, and secondary mineral formation.
• Connect geological and mineralogical properties to crushing, grinding, classification, separation, transport, storage, and dosing.
• Support mineral-processing test programmes and the selection of practical process equipment.
• Evaluate how feedstock variability affects process performance, energy consumption, product quality, and environmental behaviour.
• Develop feedstock specifications, acceptance criteria, blending strategies, and quality-control procedures.
• Review mineral suppliers, geological data, laboratory reports, test results, and technical proposals.
• Assess potential contaminants, trace elements, and environmentally relevant constituents.
• Work closely with process engineers, chemists, equipment suppliers, mining partners, laboratories, and environmental scientists.
• Support scale-up from representative samples and pilot campaigns toward reliable industrial supply and operation.

What we are looking for

• A degree in geology, engineering geology, geoscience, mining engineering, mineral processing, geochemistry, or a related discipline.
• Strong practical understanding of rocks, minerals, ores, industrial minerals, or mine and quarry materials.
• Ability to connect geological characteristics to engineering and process behaviour.
• Experience with representative sampling, feedstock variability, mineral characterisation, or laboratory test programmes.
• Knowledge of mineral-processing operations such as crushing, grinding, screening, classification, magnetic separation, flotation, washing, or solid-liquid separation is highly relevant.
• Understanding of mineral dissolution, geochemistry, hydrometallurgy, or acid-rock interaction is a strong advantage.
• Familiarity with bulk-solids handling, stockpiling, blending, wear, dust, moisture, and material-flow behaviour is valuable.
• Ability to interpret analytical data and convert it into practical feedstock or equipment decisions.
• Comfortable visiting suppliers, quarries, laboratories, workshops, pilot plants, and demonstration sites.
• Hands-on and pragmatic: you are willing to inspect samples, evaluate process equipment, investigate failures, and challenge whether a test sample is truly representative.
• Technically rigorous while remaining aware of cost, availability, logistics, environmental impact, and scale.

Your profile

You are a geologist who wants to see what happens after the sample leaves the laboratory. You can examine a rock, interpret its mineralogy, question the sampling method, discuss grinding behaviour with an equipment supplier, and explain to the process team why two apparently similar materials behave differently.

You understand that a mineral is not a uniform chemical reagent. Natural materials vary by deposit, bench, shipment, grain, and season. You therefore design practical methods to understand, control, and manage that variability.

You combine geological insight with engineering judgement. You are equally interested in reaction kinetics, wear rates, stockpile segregation, trace-element behaviour, and whether the selected material can actually be sourced at the required scale.

Why join Ocean Ionics

• Apply geoscience directly to climate technology and ocean restoration.
• Help build a robust mineral supply and processing strategy from pilot scale toward commercial deployment.
• Work across geology, mineral processing, chemistry, process engineering, environmental science, and industrial supply chains.
• Join a small team where geological and practical engineering decisions have immediate influence.
• Develop technology where mineral performance, energy use, cost, traceability, and ecological responsibility all matter.

Location

Netherlands / Spain / hybrid to be defined, with travel expected for suppliers, quarries, laboratories, test facilities, and demonstration activities.

How to apply

Apply through our contact page with your CV and a short note explaining why this role fits you. We are especially interested in examples where you characterised natural materials, managed geological variability, supported mineral-processing operations, or translated geological knowledge into practical engineering decisions.