What are the responsibilities and job description for the Laboratory Assistant position at Mariana Minerals?
Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company on a mission to supply the critical minerals powering modern energy, AI, and defense technologies. We’re reimagining the minerals supply chain by combining deep industry expertise with advanced software, automation, and data-driven decision-making.
Position Summary
As a Lab Technician, you’ll run safe, accurate chemical analysis in a hands-on production lab at a working mine. You’ll prepare and analyze ore, process streams and final products, and turn the results into data our plant and engineering teams act on every shift. You’ll also support R&D with ore leaching column tests, so the work bridges day-to-day production and what comes next. Mariana Minerals is a startup building new operations, so you’ll help stand up a new lab, and your input will shape how it runs.
Responsibilities:
- Lead, supervise, and develop a team of maintenance technicians while maintaining a safety-first mentality and a strong culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
- Conduct safety meetings and workplace inspections, address hazards, and ensure work is performed in accordance with company policies and applicable safety requirements.
- Work hands-on alongside technicians to troubleshoot, diagnose, and repair heavy mobile mining equipment, including mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical systems.
- Prioritize and coordinate daily maintenance activities based on safety, equipment criticality, production needs, labor, parts, and available resources.
- Perform advanced troubleshooting and failure analysis using diagnostic tools, schematics, technical manuals, and equipment documentation.
- Drive equipment reliability and availability through preventative maintenance, repair-quality review, equipment-status tracking, and identification of recurring failures.
- Coordinate with planners, operations, and vendors to schedule repairs, manage work orders, source parts, and communicate repair requirements and expected downtime.
- Train and mentor technicians, provide technical leadership in the field, and provide on-call support as needed, including serving as the senior maintenance representative when leadership may not be onsite.
Required Qualifications:
- Own safe work practices in the lab, including PPE, acid handling and housekeeping, and speak up when something isn’t right.
- Handle and prepare ore: crushing, screening by particle size, and splitting representative samples.
- Prepare samples for analysis using digestion, dilution and filtration.
- Run elemental and compositional analysis of solid and liquid samples using ICP, AA, XRF and titration, including calibrations and QC checks.
- Build, operate and maintain ore leaching columns alongside R&D and engineering.
- Record results in the lab information system (LIMS) and keep clear, accurate records.
- Perform basic troubleshooting and preventive maintenance on lab and prep equipment.
- Communicate results and issues clearly at shift handover.
Working Environment and Schedule:
- Schedule: 7 days on / 7 days off, working 12-hour shifts.
- Relocation assistance provided