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Women in Mining

Stacy Kennedy first woman appointed as permanent head of Vale Manitoba Operations – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – February 22, 2023)

https://www.thompsoncitizen.net/

Vale’s Manitoba Operations will be permanently overseen by a woman for the first time come March 1, when Stacy Kennedy takes over the top job in Thompson.

Kennedy, who has previously served as interim general manager of Manitoba Operations and interim mine manager, inherits the role from Gary Annett, who is returning to his home of Sudbury, Ontario, where he will continue to work for the company, said a Feb. 22 Vale Canada press release. “I’m really excited to be taking on this role at a time when there’s a real shift happening in the mining industry,” said Kennedy in a press release.

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In the search for the lithium that will power our future, these three women see a bigger lesson – by Dennis Wagner (Techxplore.com – October 10, 2022)

https://techxplore.com/

Three women trek into the barren Nevada desert, boots crunching down a wash until one of them stops at an overhang, pulls out a geology pick, and chips away a chunk of rock. Over the next few minutes, and during hours of interviews, they explain the relationship between this stone and the battery that powers your electric car.

They talk about prehistoric volcanoes, subterranean brine lakes, advanced technology and the mineral that is changing the future of our planet. Lithium. This curiosity of the periodic table is an element so sensitive it can’t be found alone in nature. The pure white metal, when exposed to air, promptly oxidizes and turns black.

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‘We have to do better’: Why Canada’s main mining lobby wants its members to get serious about workplace culture – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – August 17, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

Failure to do so could exacerbate a chronic shortage of skilled labour, says the Mining Association of Canada

Canada’s biggest mining association wants its members to try harder to diversify their workforces and to tackle issues related to workforce trauma, warning that failure to do so could exacerbate a chronic shortage of skilled labour.

The Mining Association of Canada (MAC), whose nearly 60 members including Barrick Gold Corp. and Teck Resources Ltd., is receiving comments on a draft equity, diversity and inclusion protocol, which it posted last week for review. The association aims to get sign-off from its board of directors in March 2023.

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What is Australia doing about sexual harassment in mining camps? – by Praveen Menon (Reuters – June 21, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, June 21 (Reuters) – Australia will release on Thursday a state government report on sexual harassment in the country’s mineral-rich west after more than a year of investigations, as the sector tries to fix a culture of sexism and bullying.

Women have long complained of sexual harassment in “fly in, fly out” (FIFO) mining camps. Major miners including BHP Group (BHP.AX), Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) and Fortescue (FMG.AX) have made submissions to the inquiry, which is expected to recommend steps to address the issue.

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Women in mining still experiencing harassment, discrimination, says PhD candidate’s thesis – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – May 8, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Sarah de Blois of Sudbury is advocating for more women in mining and more of them in leadership roles

A Sudbury woman, working on her PhD thesis, believes a lot more needs to be done for the acceptance of women working in all levels of the mining industry.

Sarah de Blois was competing this past week in the provincial finals of the 3MT competition (Three Minute Thesis) to outline her dissertation “Women, Mining & Gender: Experiences from Sudbury, Ontario.”

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This Mining Executive Is Fighting Her Own Industry to Protect the Environment – by Aryn Baker (Time Magazine – April 13, 2022)

https://time.com/

In her 16-year career in the mining industry, Renee Grogan has battled hostile environments, arduous work conditions, and the perception that women don’t belong at a mine site—let alone in a mining-company boardroom. But her biggest battle has only just begun: getting climate-conscious car buyers to care as much about how the metals going into their new electric-vehicle (EV) batteries are mined as they do about their carbon emissions.

“Consumers don’t generally know what their metal footprint looks like,” says Grogan, the co-founder and chief sustainability officer of California-based Impossible Mining, a battery-metal mining startup.

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The Drift: New training program aspires to attract youth, women and newcomers to mining – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – February 14, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury’s Collège Boréal will offer Mining Potential program starting Feb. 16

Collège Boréal is offering a new training program designed to draw more youth, women, and newcomers to the mining industry. The Mining Potential program, created and delivered in partnership with the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), is a 14-week work readiness skilled training program being delivered at the college’s Sudbury and Timmins campuses.

Following a hybrid online and in-class format, the course is designed to give participants a solid foot in the door to eventually find work in the sector. The first cohort is expected to get underway on Feb. 16.

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Jammed in a Cage With No Escape, Women Suffer Mining’s Dark Side – by Felix Njini, Thomas Biesheuvel and James Thornhill (Bloomberg News – February 5, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Noxolo Bobotyane, a veteran of more than a decade in South Africa’s gold fields, has seen first hand how women are sexually harassed as they start their shifts each day. Jammed into a metal cage with other mineworkers as they descend deep below the earth’s surface, there is literally no way out.

“The distance we are standing when we are inside the cage, we are so close to each other,” said Bobotyane, who is a union steward. “A man will touch you, when you are just standing in front of him and there is no way you can go anywhere, you are just standing in front of him. So you just wait for the cage to go down.”

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Mining Chose This Toxic Culture. It’s Time for a Change – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – February 4, 2022)

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Life in a mining camp in 2022 can often seem little different to conditions that prevailed a century ago. “[I have a] fear of violence. [There are] catcalls, advances made in camp when you are alone,” one Rio Tinto Group employee at a remote mine site told an internal commission into workplace culture which reported on Feb. 1.

“The men would sit on the stools and watch every single female that walked past. Some made comments. Some just stared … I ended up feeling so uncomfortable that I started making sure I had a buddy to walk to dinner and back with every single night — even when it wasn’t dark.”

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RIO TINTO NEWS RELEASE: First female president appointed for Diavik Diamond Mine (December 16, 2021)

YELLOWKNIFE, Canada – Rio Tinto has appointed Angela Bigg president and chief operating officer of the Diavik Diamond Mine. Angela, previously general manager, Operations at Diavik, will be the first female to lead the mine and its 1,100 employees.

Angela joined the Diavik team in November of 2017 as vice president, Finance. She began her career with Rio Tinto in 2005 and has worked in Mozambique, South Africa and Australia, where she is from. She succeeds Richard Storrie, who has decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.

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Sudbury group encourages women in mining, ‘shattering stereotypes’ in the process (CBC News Sudbury – October 7, 2021)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

A new group in Sudbury, Ont., wants to help more women get jobs in the mining industry. Women represent around one in 10 workers in Canada’s mining industry, and number that hasn’t changed much in the last 10 years, according to Jennifer Dallaire, treasurer of the Sudbury chapter of Women in Mining.

The chapter launched in early 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it just recently held its first networking event. About 50 people participated in the event. They ranged from women already working in the industry, to students and business owners.

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Sudbury mining engineer nationally lauded: Theresa Nyabeze named one of 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 20, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury mining engineer Theresa Nyabeze has been recognized as one of 100 Accomplished Black Canadian (ABC) Women in 2020.

Now in its third edition, the 100 ABC Women initiative aims to celebrate and archive the professional accomplishments of trailblazing Black women from across Canada. The non-profit organization behind the program said its goal is to create a database for current and future generations.

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Lundin Mining CEO Marie Inkster says decision to step down personal and had nothing to do with board dissatisfaction – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 11, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Marie Inkster, Lundin Mining Corp’s chief executive officer for just three years, says she is stepping down for “personal reasons,” adding that speculation about board dissatisfaction with her performance is incorrect.

Toronto-based Lundin, one of Canada’s biggest base metals companies, said in a news release Ms. Inkster will give up the CEO position at the end of the year. She will be succeeded by Peter Rockandel, a former long-time banker with GMP Capital Inc. who is currently senior vice-president, corporate development and investor relations, of Lundin.

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Report documents ‘degrading’ treatment of Indigenous women at Yukon and B.C. mines – by Julien Gignac (CBC News Canada North – August 4, 2021)

https://www.cbc.ca/

She had a ritual that involved loading and reloading a shotgun in front of a group of men. The message seemed clear enough: Stay away.

“I would sleep with it right next to my bed, sometimes right in the bed next to me, and I’d have my bear spray right there, too,” said the unidentified woman who is quoted in a new report documenting the experiences of Indigenous women and women of colour at mining camps in Yukon and Northern B.C.

The report, titled “Never Until Now,” was commissioned by the non-profit Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society. It suggests that women are often assigned low-paying, menial jobs at mines because of their gender — and it’s those very roles that often compromise their personal safety.

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Inuit women experiencing harassment, lower pay at Canadian mine sites, report says – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 31, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

More than half of Inuit women surveyed by Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada in a report funded by the federal government said they have been sexually harassed at mining sites in Canada’s Far North.

According to the report released on Wednesday by Pauktuutit, a national non-profit Inuit women’s advocacy organization, the most frequent harassment incidents directed at Inuit women were “sexual comments, jokes, unwanted touching and emotional abuse.”

Some of the Inuit reported being the subject of sexual violence as frequently as every shift. Some reported feeling particularly vulnerable because they worked in housekeeping and janitorial positions that often placed them in private areas such as bedrooms and bathrooms.

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