A professional who tends thickeners that separate waste solids from ore solutions or water, preparatory to recovery of metal or disposal of waste. Respnsibilities include:

• Turns valves to regulate flow of mixture into thickeners.
• Inserts indicator into mixture to measure sludge level.
• Observes operation of equipment, overflow of concentrated metal solution, and flow of sludge from tank.
• Breaks up sedimentation in troughs with wooden paddle.
• Prepares sample of sludge for chemical analysis by weighing sample, adding acid to facilitate settling of solids, and reducing amount of sample to desired proportion in splitter.
• May titrate sample and compare resultant color with standard chart to test overflow solution for metallic content.
• May add chemicals to soften water in tanks.
• May fill out forms for scale readings and details of malfunctions.
• May be designated according to kind of materials separated as Red-Mud Thickener Operator
• Tailing-Thickener Operator.