Chief Ventilation Engineer - Chibuluma South Copper Mine Ltd - Kalulushi, Zambia
(2025-10)
Underground hard-rock copper mine | Depth: 550 m | Mechanized SLOS & Sub-Level Stoping operations. Led the re-establishment of a dedicated underground ventilation department from the ground up, implementing governance structures and reporting protocols that delivered a 40% improvement in regulatory compliance — creating a foundation for safe and operationally efficient ventilation management.
- Developed and maintained the underground ventilation strategy in full alignment with the Life-of-Mine plan and short-, medium-, and long-term mine planning processes, ensuring airflow capacity supported Sub-Level Open Stoping (SLOS) production sequences and evolving development schedules.
- Designed and optimised primary and secondary ventilation systems — including fan selection, airflow distribution, vent bag layouts, and regulator placement — tailored to SLOS stope geometry and draw point sequencing across all active mining fronts.
- Determined required airflow quantities based on diesel equipment fleet sizing, heat load analysis, blasting activities, and SLOS development sequencing — ensuring statutory contaminant limits were met at all active headings and stope draw points.
- Proactively identified and escalated ventilation-related risks compromising personnel safety or production continuity; led structured HIRA processes that reduced ventilation incidents by 30% within 8 months.
- Led a team of four ventilation technicians, providing technical mentoring, hands-on training, and safety leadership to build internal capability and embed a compliance-driven ventilation culture.
- Prepared detailed CAPEX and OPEX ventilation budgets, contributing to mine cost control and annual planning cycles.
- Conducted quarterly ventilation compliance audits and statutory inspections per the Zambia Mines safety Department (MSD) and internal ventilation reports as required.
Mine Ventilation Engineer - Lubambe Copper Mine Ltd - Chililabombwe, Zambia
(2018-06 - 2025-05)
Underground copper mine | Depth: 700 m | Mechanized LHOS & SLOS environment | Contractor-operated production. Demonstrated strong technical authority over ventilation design and operational control across a complex, deep-level mechanised operation with five active mining ramps, managing airflow delivery to contractor-operated LHOS and SLOS production areas over a seven-year tenure.
- Designed and optimised primary and secondary underground ventilation systems across five active Long-Hole Open Stoping (LHOS) and Sub-Level Open Stoping (SLOS) ramps, achieving a 20% improvement in ventilation effectiveness through targeted airflow redistribution and infrastructure upgrades.
- Integrated ventilation design requirements into short-, medium-, and long-term mine plans; coordinated closely with Mine Planning to ensure production sequencing across LHOS and SLOS panels was ventilation-compliant and airflow constraints were embedded into scheduling decisions.
- Built, calibrated, and maintained VentSim Design network models for annual LOM planning updates and scenario analyses, validating model outputs against underground measurements across both LHOS and SLOS stoping areas.
- Managed auxiliary fan deployment schedules for active development ends, ensuring compliance with minimum airflow velocities, DPM contaminant limits, and safe re-entry times following blasting in LHOS and SLOS stopes.
- Verified mining contractor compliance with ventilation requirements, air allocations, and re-entry protocols; conducted audits of contractor-installed secondary infrastructure (vent bags, auxiliary fans, regulators, stoppings).
- Collaborated with Geotechnical Engineering to ensure ventilation designs accounted for ground support layouts, bulkhead placements, and regulator positioning across all active stoping and development drives.
- Collaborated with the mine cooling team to optimise chilled water and bulk air cooler performance, managing heat stress risk and wet-bulb temperature compliance as mining depth increased.
- Delivered CAPEX and OPEX estimates for ventilation projects totalling over USD 2 million over seven years, consistently on budget.
Ventilation Engineer - Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) - Chililabombwe, Zambia
(2012-01 - 2018-05)
Underground copper mine | Depth: 1,505 m | Multi-method: SLOS, PPCF, VCR, Bench Stoping & Mechanised Cut and Fill | One of the world's wettest copper mine operations. Demonstrated exceptional adaptability and problem-solving capability across and between two shafts one of the most technically demanding underground environments — engineering safe, compliant ventilation solutions simultaneously across five distinct mining methods at extreme depth, under severe heat, humidity, and geotechnical constraints.
- Developed, maintained, and continuously updated ventilation plans across all active mine sections operating concurrently under Sub-Level Open Stoping (SLOS), Post-Pillar Cut and Fill (PPCF), Vertical Crater Retreat (VCR), Bench Stoping, and Mechanised Cut and Fill — each requiring a distinct ventilation design approach, airflow allocation strategy, and blast fume management protocol.
- Engineered tailored ventilation solutions for SLOS panels — designing auxiliary fan arrays, regulator networks, and vent bag systems to manage large blast fume volumes and ensure safe re-entry within regulatory timeframes following long-hole ring blasts across multiple sub-levels.
- Designed and managed ventilation for Post-Pillar Cut and Fill (PPCF) stopes, addressing the unique challenges of enclosed stope environments, pastefill placement activities, and elevated DPM concentrations from intensive diesel equipment cycles — implementing targeted airflow controls to maintain statutory exposure limits.
- Provided ventilation support for Vertical Crater Retreat (VCR) operations — calculating required airflow for uphole drilling activities, managing blast fume dilution and clearance from drawbell levels, and coordinating method-specific re-entry procedures with production crews following large-diameter VCR blasts.
- Managed ventilation for Bench Stoping sections, designing open-circuit airflow paths through wide-span benched stopes and ensuring adequate dilution of blast gases, diesel emissions, and rock dust across high-productivity bench blast panels.
- Conducted VentSim simulation modelling to evaluate fan performance curves, predict airflow distributions across all five mining method zones, and assess the impact of new development on the total ventilation network — informing LOM planning updates and capital investment decisions.
- Monitored airflow quantities, air quality parameters, wet-bulb temperatures, and DPM concentrations across all production levels; flagged non-compliances and implemented corrective actions within 24 hours.
- Led ventilation improvement projects including booster fan installations and auxiliary fan upgrades, improving air delivery to deep production levels by an estimated 15% and addressing heat stress risk in PPCF and SLOS sections operating below 1020 m depth.
- Maintained environmental monitoring systems gas detection, airflow distributions, and temperature monitoring across all active working areas, reducing equipment fault downtime by 20%.
- Ensured full HSE and Mines Safety Regulations compliance across all mining method areas; represented the ventilation department in statutory inspections and regulatory audits.
- Contributed to emergency preparedness planning including blast fume re-entry procedures, smoke and fire ventilation response protocols, and method-specific risk registers for SLOS, VCR, and PPCF operations.
- Led a team of four ventilation technicians, providing technical mentoring, hands-on training, and safety leadership to build internal capability and embed a compliance-driven ventilation culture.
- Prepared detailed CAPEX and OPEX ventilation budgets, contributing to mine cost control and annual planning cycles.
- Conducted quarterly ventilation compliance audits and statutory inspections per the Zambia Mines safety Department (MSD) and internal ventilation reports as required.
