Environmental Assessment Practitioner in Mining

About LexEco

LexEco is an environmental, legal, regulatory and governance advisory business supporting organisations operating in highly regulated industries.

We help mining, industrial, recycling, waste-management and infrastructure businesses obtain and maintain the environmental and regulatory approvals required to develop and operate their projects.

Our services include environmental-impact assessments, basic assessments, environmental-management programmes, water-use licence applications, waste-management licence applications, atmospheric-emission licence applications, mining and prospecting right applications, environmental compliance auditing, specialist-study coordination, public participation and regulatory engagement.

LexEco is growing its mining and environmental-authorisation practice and is looking for an experienced Environmental Assessment Practitioner to take ownership of mining-sector applications and projects.

The role

The Environmental Assessment Practitioner will manage environmental assessment and authorisation processes for mining and prospecting projects.

The successful candidate must have direct experience working on mining-sector environmental applications. General environmental-consulting experience without meaningful mining exposure will not be sufficient.

This is a delivery and ownership role. The successful candidate will be expected to manage projects from initial screening and scoping through specialist coordination, public participation, submission, regulator engagement and final decision.

Key responsibilities

The successful candidate will:

⁠ ⁠Manage Basic Assessment and full Scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment processes.

⁠ ⁠Undertake environmental screening and determine applicable listed activities, licences, permits and specialist-study requirements.

⁠ ⁠Prepare environmental-impact assessment reports, scoping reports, environmental-management programmes and supporting submissions.

⁠ ⁠Manage environmental-authorisation processes for mining, prospecting, expansion, rehabilitation, closure and related infrastructure projects.

⁠ ⁠Support mining right, mining permit and prospecting right applications from an environmental and regulatory perspective.

⁠ ⁠Coordinate specialist studies, including biodiversity, wetlands, hydrology, heritage, air quality, noise, visual, traffic and socio-economic assessments.

⁠ ⁠Review specialist reports critically and integrate their findings into environmental assessment documentation.

⁠ ⁠Plan and conduct site inspections, field assessments and project inception meetings.

⁠ ⁠Design and manage legally compliant public-participation processes.

⁠ ⁠Engage with communities, landowners, interested and affected parties and other stakeholders.

⁠ ⁠Prepare responses to comments, objections, appeals, requests for information and regulatory queries.

⁠ ⁠Engage professionally with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, environmental authorities, water authorities, municipalities and other regulators.

⁠ ⁠Assist with water-use licence, waste-management licence and atmospheric-emission licence applications where required.

⁠ ⁠Prepare and review environmental-management programmes, closure-related documentation, rehabilitation plans and compliance action plans.

⁠ ⁠Manage project programmes, budgets, deliverables, dependencies and statutory deadlines.

⁠ ⁠Maintain complete, accurate and defensible project records.

⁠ ⁠Identify regulatory risks early and propose practical solutions.

⁠ ⁠Provide clients with clear, commercially useful advice on environmental approval strategies.

⁠ ⁠Work with LexEco’s legal, environmental, ecological, compliance and governance professionals.

⁠ ⁠Contribute to proposals, project scoping, fee estimates and the development of client relationships.

⁠ ⁠Help develop LexEco’s mining-sector systems, templates, precedents and service offering.

Minimum requirements

Applicants must have:

⁠ ⁠A relevant bachelor’s degree in environmental science, environmental management, geography, ecology, natural sciences or a related discipline.

⁠ ⁠Current registration with EAPASA as a Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner.

⁠ ⁠At least three years’ direct experience managing or materially contributing to environmental assessment and authorisation processes in the mining industry.

⁠ ⁠Practical experience with mining, prospecting or related mineral-development applications.

⁠ ⁠Working knowledge of NEMA, the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, the MPRDA, the National Water Act, NEMWA and related environmental legislation.

⁠ ⁠Experience preparing Basic Assessment Reports, Scoping Reports, Environmental Impact Assessment Reports and Environmental Management Programmes.

⁠ ⁠Experience coordinating specialist studies and public-participation processes.

⁠ ⁠Strong technical-report writing, research and analytical ability.

⁠ ⁠Demonstrable project-management and deadline-management skills.

⁠ ⁠The ability to manage several applications or projects concurrently.

⁠ ⁠The ability to work independently and take responsibility for projects from instruction to completion.

⁠ ⁠A valid driver’s licence and willingness to travel to mining and project sites.

⁠ ⁠The right to work in South Africa.

Advantageous experience

Preference may be given to candidates with experience in one or more of the following:

⁠ ⁠Mining right, mining permit and prospecting right applications.

⁠ ⁠Brownfield mining expansions and amendment applications.

⁠ ⁠Water-use licence applications for mining operations.

⁠ ⁠Waste-management and atmospheric-emission licensing.

⁠ ⁠Mine rehabilitation, closure and financial-provision processes.

⁠ ⁠Environmental compliance auditing and Environmental Control Officer work.

⁠ ⁠Section 24G rectification applications.

⁠ ⁠Environmental due diligence for mining transactions or project acquisitions.

⁠ ⁠Managing objections, appeals or contentious public-participation processes.

⁠ ⁠Working with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources and other environmental regulators.

⁠ ⁠Geographic Information Systems and environmental screening tools.

⁠ ⁠ISO 14001 environmental-management systems.

⁠ ⁠Corporate environmental governance, ESG or sustainability reporting.

⁠ ⁠Proposal preparation, fee estimation and client relationship management.

⁠ ⁠Experience supervising junior environmental practitioners or project administrators.

The person we are looking for

The right person will be:

⁠ ⁠Highly organised and operationally strong.

⁠ ⁠Technically competent and attentive to detail.

⁠ ⁠Comfortable taking ownership of projects and outcomes.

⁠ ⁠Proactive and able to work without constant supervision.

⁠ ⁠Accountable for statutory deadlines and client commitments.

⁠ ⁠Confident dealing with mining clients, specialists, regulators and communities.

⁠ ⁠Able to anticipate obstacles and escalate risks early.

⁠ ⁠Commercially aware and focused on keeping client projects moving.

⁠ ⁠Able to produce accurate, defensible and regulator-ready work.

⁠ ⁠Calm and methodical when managing complex or contentious applications.

⁠ ⁠Interested in helping build a growing mining and environmental-authorisation practice.

We are not looking for someone who has only observed environmental assessment processes or completed isolated sections of reports. We are looking for someone who can take responsibility for an application, coordinate the different workstreams and drive it through to submission and decision.

What LexEco offers

⁠ ⁠Direct exposure to mining and other highly regulated industries.

⁠ ⁠Responsibility for substantive environmental-authorisation projects.

⁠ ⁠Work at the intersection of environmental assessment, law, compliance and commercial operations.

⁠ ⁠Collaboration with environmental specialists and experienced attorneys.

⁠ ⁠The opportunity to help build LexEco’s mining and environmental-authorisation practice.

⁠ ⁠A practical, entrepreneurial environment in which initiative and ownership are valued.

⁠ ⁠Meaningful client, regulator and project exposure.

Pay: R15 407,23 - R33 935,63 per month

Work Location: In person