Strategic Talent Intelligence · Pyrometallurgy & Critical Minerals
We deploy precision talent intelligence across the critical minerals value chain — identifying, scoring, and placing the specialists who will define the next decade of global pyrometallurgy.
What We Do
Direct access to pre-scored, domain-verified pyrometallurgy and critical minerals specialists. We don't post jobs — we identify and approach the specific talent your operation requires.
Strategic workforce planning that aligns talent capability with your operational roadmap. We map skill gaps, model team structures, and build succession pipelines before vacancies emerge.
Embedding talent intelligence directly into your HR and technical leadership functions. We deploy embedded TA principals and market intelligence tooling to build internal capability.
Score range 0–100 · Gold = top-tier candidates
Of placements remain in role after 24 months — 2.4× industry average.
Our Framework
We score candidates across two axes: domain fit (alignment to pyrometallurgy competency profiles) and career velocity (rate of skills acquisition and role progression). This produces a quadrant map that drives prioritisation and engagement strategy.
High Velocity · Low Fit
Candidates progressing rapidly but in adjacent domains. Monitor and engage at inflection.
High Velocity · High Fit
Accelerating in the right domain. Immediate engagement recommended — window is short.
Low Velocity · Low Fit
Early-career or domain-adjacent talent. Nurture for 18–36 month horizon.
Low Velocity · High Fit
Deep expertise, lower mobility signal. Relationship-build; opportunity-driven outreach.
Engagement Options
Engagement-Based
typically 3-month retainer
End-to-end talent acquisition for senior and specialist roles. Fully managed from market mapping to offer negotiation.
Annual Licence
per seat · team pricing available
Access our live talent database, salary benchmarks, and competitor talent movement intelligence across the critical minerals sector.
Custom
6–18 month engagement
A senior talent acquisition principal embedded within your team, operating as an extension of your HR function.
Global Pipeline
Leadership
Founder & Managing Principal
Neo Phiri founded Rare Earth Partners after a decade placing metallurgical engineers, process managers, and operational leaders across Africa's critical minerals sector. Having worked alongside smelter operators, refinery principals, and C-suite executives at major mining houses, Neo developed an understanding of what separates adequate hires from transformational ones.
The Skills Velocity Framework was built from this experience — a structured, data-driven lens for identifying talent not just by what they know today, but by how fast they are growing and in what direction.
"Pyrometallurgy is a small world with enormous stakes. The wrong hire in a furnace operation costs millions. The right one compounds value for a decade."
— Neo Phiri
Client Perspective
We'd been searching for a Senior Process Metallurgist for nine months. REP identified three qualified candidates in four weeks. One is still with us three years on.
Operations Director
Major Platinum Group Metals Producer, South Africa
Neo's understanding of the smelting talent landscape is genuinely unmatched. The market intelligence licence has become central to how we plan our workforce.
Chief People Officer
Critical Minerals Refinery, Western Australia
The embedded model was transformational. Within six months we had a hiring function that could stand on its own — and a pipeline that's delivering two years later.
VP Human Resources
Copper Smelter, Democratic Republic of Congo
Begin the conversation
Whether you need a single specialist, a team built, or talent intelligence embedded into your operation — we start with a confidential briefing.
Request a Confidential Briefing →hello@rareearthpartners.com · Typically responds within one business day