---
title: 'Senior Hydrogeologist at KoBold Metals Zambia'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-hydrogeologist-kobold-metals-zambia-northern-copperbelt-p0078tc3hmn4'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Senior Hydrogeologist at KoBold Metals Zambia

- **Company:** KoBold Metals Zambia
- **Location:** Northern Copperbelt, Zambia
- **Posted:** 2026-05-14
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/zambold/jobs/4695230005

## Job description

## About the Company

The mining industry has steadily become worse at finding new ore deposits, requiring >10X more capital to make discoveries compared to 30 years ago. The easy-to-find, near-surface deposits have largely been found, and the industry has chronically under-invested in new exploration technology, relying on the manual techniques of yesteryear – even as demand accelerates for copper, lithium, and other metals to build electric vehicles, renewable energy, and data centers.

KoBold builds AI models for mineral exploration and deploys those models—alongside our novel sensors—to guide decisions on KoBold-owned-and-operated exploration programs. Since our founding in 2018, KoBold has become by far both the largest independent mineral exploration company and the largest exploration technology developer. Our data scientists and software engineers, who come from leading technology companies, jointly lead exploration programs with our renowned exploration geologists.

KoBold has proven its first discovery with materially less capital than the industry average and found one of the best copper deposits ever discovered: the copper is far more concentrated than the global average of copper mines, and this asset alone is expected to generate meaningful revenue for decades. KoBold has a portfolio of more than 60 other projects, each of which has the potential for another high-quality discovery.

KoBold is privately held; investors include institutional asset managers T. Rowe Price and Canada Pension Plan Investments; technology venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BOND Capital, Durable Capital, StepStone, and Standard Investments; and strategic natural resources companies BHP and Mitsubishi.

## About the Role

KoBold is advancing multiple exploration programs across Zambia, including our flagship Mingomba copper discovery. As Senior Hydrogeologist, you will lead all hydrogeological aspects of our exploration and early-stage development activities. You will design groundwater monitoring programs, develop conceptual and numerical hydrogeological models, manage water balance assessments, and ensure compliance with Zambian water regulations (WARMA). You will work closely with the drilling, environmental, and community relations teams to ensure water resources are responsibly managed across all project sites.

As projects advance toward feasibility, you will provide hydrogeological inputs for mine water management planning, dewatering strategies, and environmental impact assessments. You will also support community engagement on water-related matters and serve as the technical authority on groundwater issues for internal and external stakeholders.

## Responsibilities

- Identify data gaps in the hydrogeology program
- Coordinate and lead field teams to execute these data collection programs
- Provide technical and administrative support to hydrogeologic field operations in support of mine area surface and groundwater management strategies, including piezometric completions, drill stem injection test, other monitoring and characterization tests
- Coordinate and support of numerical and conceptual groundwater modeling: review/validation of results as well as contribution technical insights to derive novel hydrogeologic analyses
- Preparation of detailed technical scopes and execution of work, including dewater and production wells drilling and completion of dewatering wells  as well as water exploration drilling and testing projects
- Provide technical support in the design and development of  groundwater management strategies for mine planning and development
- Assess the impact of local (mine sale) as well as regional (basin scale) hydrogeologic conditions in ming operations and provide alternatives and detailed technical advice for mine water management.
- Actively communicate with other regional operators regarding mine water management at a regional scale and build collaborative management strategies and programs
- Collaborate with Project teams as the hydrogeology domain expert on engineering design to actualize a dewatering strategy

## Qualifications

- Bachelor's or post-graduate degree in hydrogeology, geology, geological or environmental engineering, or closely related discipline
- 6-10 years of work experience in hydrogeology
- Experience in designing and implementing hydrogeologic field studies
- Experience in analyzing hydrogeologic data to support the development of conceptual and numerical models of groundwater flow, including familiarity with modeling software such as MODFLOW or FEFLOW
- Deep expertise in porous media flow and coupled groundwater/ surface- water systems.
- Knowledge of groundwater management strategies for
- Enthusiasm for developing novel mathematical models, both physics-based and data-driven
- Drive to self-teach programming fundamentals and learn KoBold’s code repositories

We are committed to equal employment opportunities for all people.

This position is a fixed term contract role.

At this time, we are only accepting applications from Zambian nationals.

Location:    Copperbelt, Zambia.

What to Expect

Joining KoBold means getting the opportunity for hands-on exposure to our exploration projects around the world. All employees are expected to travel to project sites, with a minimum of one week per year. Field-facing and technical roles spend significantly more time in the field.

## About KoBold Metals Zambia

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: KoBold Metals Zambia is the Zambian subsidiary of KoBold Metals, a scientific mineral exploration and development company that uses AI and human expertise to discover critical minerals like copper and lithium for the energy transition.
- **Entity Type**: Private (subsidiary of privately held KoBold Metals)
- **Headquarters**: Lusaka, Zambia (with operations in Chililabombwe and the Northern Copperbelt)
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: KoBold Metals was co-founded by Kurt House (CEO) and Josh Goldman (President); the Zambia entity is led by Mfikeyi Makayi (CEO of KoBold Metals Africa) [koboldmetals.com/team](https://koboldmetals.com/team/)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Mineral exploration and mine development, focused on copper, lithium, nickel, and other battery metals
- **Target customers**: B2B – partners in the energy and mining sectors (e.g., ZCCM-IH joint venture at Mingomba)
- **Mission statement**: “Finding the materials of the future with AI and HI” – combining artificial intelligence with human intelligence to make exploration a repeatable science [koboldmetals.com](https://koboldmetals.com/)

## Products & Services
- **Mingomba Copper Deposit**: One of the world’s largest undeveloped copper deposits, located in Zambia, being developed in partnership with ZCCM-IH [koboldmetals.com/mingomba](https://koboldmetals.com/mingomba/)
- **AI-Powered Exploration Platform**: Proprietary predictive models, data systems, and novel sensors that integrate geological, geophysical, and geochemical data to identify drill targets faster
- **Global Exploration Projects**: 100% owned and joint-venture projects across Zambia, DRC, and other regions
- **Talent Development Program**: Masters of Science scholarships in Data Science and Exploration Geology in partnership with Stanford University, Copperbelt University, and University of Zambia [koboldmetals.com/mingomba](https://koboldmetals.com/mingomba/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total investment in the Zambian economy exceeds $200 million to date; employs 200+ Zambian nationals and contractors [koboldmetals.com/mingomba](https://koboldmetals.com/mingomba/)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not explicitly listed in provided sources; publicly known investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and others (not verifiable from given sources)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 99% of the Zambia team are Zambian nationals
  - Described as “the largest American investor in Zambia”
  - Active recruitment across geology, engineering, IT, finance, and operations roles [koboldmetals.com/careers](https://koboldmetals.com/careers/) | [job-boards.greenhouse.io/zambold](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/zambold)

## Competitive Advantages
- **AI + Human Intelligence**: Combines machine learning with world-class geoscientists to make exploration more predictive and efficient
- **Scientific Rigor**: Bayesian approach to decision-making – form hypotheses, make predictions, test, and update
- **Ethical Foundation**: Strong anti-corruption, anti-discrimination, safety, and environmental protection principles; never compromises on ethics [koboldmetals.com](https://koboldmetals.com/)
- **Local Commitment**: Deep integration with Zambian talent, suppliers, and communities; “Built by Zambians” ethos

## Strategic Focus
- **Mingomba Mine Development**: Advancing one of the best copper deposits ever found toward production
- **Global Expansion**: Exploring in Zambia, DRC, and other regions for copper, lithium, and nickel
- **Talent Pipeline**: Investing in local education and training to build the next generation of exploration geologists and data scientists
- **Technology Scaling**: Deploying new sensors and AI models across projects to accelerate discovery

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as “Bayesian” – data-driven, hypothesis-testing, and collaborative; “We are all owners” culture with equity for employees [koboldmetals.com/careers](https://koboldmetals.com/careers/)
- **Work Model**: Mix of on-site and remote roles; field positions in Zambia (Copperbelt, Chililabombwe) and office roles in Lusaka
- **Team**: Multidisciplinary teams of geoscientists, data scientists, software/hardware engineers, and operations staff solving meaningful problems
- **Impact**: Directly contributing to the energy transition by discovering critical minerals; opportunity to work on world-class deposits
- **Perks**: Not explicitly listed; emphasis on ownership, collaboration, and professional growth

## Sources
1. [koboldmetals.com](https://koboldmetals.com/) – Main company site
2. [koboldmetals.com/mingomba](https://koboldmetals.com/mingomba/) – Mingomba project and Zambia operations
3. [koboldmetals.com/team](https://koboldmetals.com/team/) – Leadership team
4. [koboldmetals.com/careers](https://koboldmetals.com/careers/) – Careers page and culture
5. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/zambold](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/zambold) – Current job openings in Zambia

## Other roles at KoBold Metals Zambia

- [Site HR Superintendent](https://feeny.ai/job/site-hr-superintendent-kobold-metals-zambia-chililabombwe-fj9qz7n3t9v8) — Chililabombwe, Zambia
- [Senior Engineering & Integration Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-engineering-integration-manager-kobold-metals-zambia-remote-f7e2gcfc74kn)
- [Commercial Director](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-director-kobold-metals-zambia-remote-kbsdz0eq41sw)
- [Personal Assistant, CEO](https://feeny.ai/job/personal-assistant-ceo-kobold-metals-zambia-lusaka-x3aje7vp1fss) — Lusaka, Zambia / Chililabombwe, Zambia
- [Chief Mining Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/chief-mining-engineer-kobold-metals-zambia-lusaka-gz6hff7kn1p0) — Lusaka, Zambia
- [Senior Accountant - Payable](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-accountant-payable-kobold-metals-zambia-lusaka-vpxhe4zcfent) — Lusaka, Zambia
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