Also called: Extractive Metallurgist, Process Metallurgist
Designs plants that crush rock and separate out valuable metals like copper, gold and lithium.
You walk a processing plant where giant mills grind rock into powder and bubbling tanks float copper away from waste. Recovery dropped 2% overnight, so you test samples and adjust chemicals to get it back.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in metallurgical, mining or chemical engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Metallurgical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Chemical Engineering.
Growing about average. Battery metals are driving new plants.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI tunes crushing and separation in real time; testing ore, solving plant problems and new lithium plants stay human.
Classes: Chemistry, Physics, Earth science, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2151.
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