Joseph Keane

2013 Medal of Merit Recipient

Joseph Keane earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Metallurgical Engineering and in Mineral Dressing Engineering respectively both from Montana Tech. He is the co-inventor of a novel copper hydrometallurgical patent and was the recipient of the Montana Tech Distinguished Alumni Award in 1989.

Keane is a registered Professional Engineer in Arizona and Nevada as well as being a member of the Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas de Chile. He held numerous technical and managerial positions in the mineral industry worldwide between 1962 and 1975 including positions with Chile Exploration Company in Chile, Molycorp in New Mexico, Colorado and in Mexico, and also with EIMCO as a mineral processing equipment sales engineer in Colorado prior to permanently relocating to Tucson, AZ.

In 1975, Keane joined Mountain States Mineral Enterprises as Vice President and Senior Process Engineer and later joined Pincock, Allen & Holt, Inc. as Vice President, Project Engineer of the Process and Geotechnical Engineering Department overseeing the development of metallurgical feasibility studies and consulting activities. Under his management, Pincock, Allen & Holt greatly expanded its engineering design and construction management capabilities. Projects completed included the first semi-autogenous copper sulfide flotation mill in the Philippines and doubling the production capacity of the largest gold mine in that country.

From 1982 to 2005, Keane was President and Principal Metallurgical Engineer with KD Engineering Co., Inc. specializing in process design development, equipment selection and pollution abatement for global clients. Concurrent to his duties with KD Engineering, Keane also held the position of President of METCON Research from 1985 to 2005 and supervised numerous mineral beneficiation test programs and pilot plant studies. During this period he was a consultant to the Mining & Petroleum Division of International Finance Corporation, a unit of the World Bank. Both companies expanded under Keane’s practical guidance and depth of metallurgical project experience and in 2005 the two companies were sold to E&S Engineering Services.

In January 2013, SGS Minerals Services acquired the parent company of both METCON Research and KD Engineering and the two groups consolidated to form SGS Metcon/KD Engineering. Keane continues his metallurgical consulting with SGS and as the owner of Keane Mineral Engineering LLC of Sahuarita, Arizona. He has served on the Boards of Directors of Golden Cycle Gold Corporation, Rochester Resources, Mercator Minerals and Stingray Copper Corporation.

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