Website:
circulogy.com
Job details:
Chemist – Process
Hydrometallurgy Lab | Critical Minerals & REE
Position
Chemist – Process
Department
R&D – Hydrometallurgy Lab
Location
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh (on-site)
Reports to
R&D Lead – Hydrometallurgy
Qualification
M.Sc in Chemistry / B.Tech or M.Tech in Chemical Engineering
Experience
2–5 years
Employment Type
Full-time, permanent
Compensation
As per market benchmarks
ROLE SUMMARY
The Process Chemist will run bench-scale hydrometallurgy experiments to recover critical minerals and rare earth elements from black mass and sintered magnets. Working under the R&D Lead, the role turns experiment plans into reliable data on recovery, purity and process conditions, which feeds into scale-up.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
● Leaching trials: Conduct acid and reductive leaching experiments on black mass and magnet feeds, varying acid strength, temperature, solid-liquid ratio, time and reductant dosage.
● Purification: Run impurity removal steps such as pH-controlled precipitation, cementation and filtration.
● Solvent extraction: Perform solvent extraction, scrubbing and stripping trials, including shake-out tests, isotherms and multi-stage simulations.
● Product recovery: Carry out precipitation and crystallisation of metal salts / oxides (e.g. Li, Co, Ni, Mn compounds and REE oxalates / oxides) and evaluate product quality.
● Parameter studies: Execute experiment plans (including DoE), study kinetics and generate data for recovery, selectivity and reagent consumption.
● Records: Maintain detailed lab notebooks, trial logs and mass balances, and prepare summary reports for the R&D Lead.
● Scale-up support: Support preparation of data for the pilot plant team when needed.
● Lab upkeep & safety: Manage reagent preparation, set-ups (reactors, filtration, SX equipment) and safe handling and disposal of acids, solvents and residues.
QUALIFICATIONS
● M.Sc in Chemistry (Inorganic / Physical / Industrial), OR B.Tech / M.Tech in Chemical Engineering or Metallurgy.
EXPERIENCE
● 2–5 years of hands-on bench-scale experience in hydrometallurgy, metal recovery, chemical process development or a related R&D lab.
SKILLS & COMPETENCIES
● Practical knowledge of leaching, precipitation and solvent extraction techniques.
● Understanding of solution chemistry, pH control and stoichiometry.
● Ability to plan and run experiments systematically and record observations accurately.
● Basic data analysis in MS Excel.
● Safe handling of acids, oxidants / reductants and organic solvents.
● Curious, hands-on and comfortable in a fast-paced start-up lab.
GOOD TO HAVE
● Experience with Li-ion battery recycling, REE separation or e-waste metal recovery.
● Familiarity with mixer-settlers or multi-stage counter-current SX simulation.
Exposure to DoE software
About Circulogy
Circulogy CleanTech Pvt. Ltd. is a DPIIT-recognised DeepTech circular economy company headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Circulogy works on recovering value from waste streams, with a focus on critical minerals and rare earth elements that are vital to India's clean energy and electronics supply chains.
Circulogy is setting up a hydrometallurgy R&D laboratory in Meerut to develop and refine processes for recovering lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and rare earth elements (neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium) from Li-ion battery black mass and permanent magnets. The lab works alongside national research institutions and will feed into Circulogy's planned commercial-scale recycling and refining facility in Uttar Pradesh.
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