[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Global WIM Group Recap – September 2016″ font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%238224e3″ google_fonts=”font_family:Ubuntu%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_tta_tabs][vc_tta_section title=”Africa” tab_id=”1467992869013-8010cece-0fd7″][vc_column_text]
Namibia
Intelligence Transfer (ITC), in partnership with the Ministry of Mines & Energy Namibia, is organising the 1st Annual Women in Mining Namibia conference to be held on November 17th and 18th at Safari Court, Windhoek. The conference is aimed at uplifting and empowering women within the Namibian mining industry. Birgit has reached out to ITC to see if we might help organise speakers, and is awaiting a response.
South Africa
WiMSA Survey
IWiM previously announced a call for participants for WiMSA’s 2016 survey and the results of the survey are now ready and can be found here: http://wimsa.org.za/wimsa-industry-survey
A few key points from the survey are:
- aside from women holding senior positions, women aren’t seeking the opportunities presented by the legislation for gender diversity
- mining is still widely perceived as men’s work
- most younger women in the industry hold technical positions while older women hold head office and administrative positions
- many women have left the industry during the downturn, especially older women
On a positive note, the survey does highlight the interest women have in joining interest groups and having mentors.
Ghana
We have been contacted by the organisers of the 8th West & Central Africa Mining Summit & Expo 2016, to be held in Accra in October, about our possible participation as a “Supporting Organisation”. Wendy is discussing this with Natalya Lozovaya, IWiM’s head of the SpeakUp! project.
Kenya
Barbara was contacted by the African Union Commission, about identifying a woman speaker for their side-event at the upcoming TICAD-VI conference on August 26, 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya (https://ticad6.net/). The purpose of the side event is to highlight opportunities for African women in non-traditional sectors such as mining. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to put anyone forward
Mentoring
Barbara has received a proposal from Kaya HQ eMentoring Platform, which is being used by WiM South Africa. The platform allows online mentoring and could be a useful tool for the Africa Group. We have confirmed pricing: the next step is to get funding.
Deborah’s trip to Malawi in October
Deborah’s trip to Malawi is firming up and she will meet with Emma Adam, who is head of WiM Malawi, in Blantyre in October.
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Mongolia
Singapore
[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Australia” tab_id=”1468043331217-6fdf100f-1ae9″][vc_column_text]The 2016 Women in Resources National Awards (WIRNA) were announced September 1 at a dinner in Adelaide that attracted high achievers in minerals and energy from across Australia. See winners.
Nominations for 2017 are now open. View the CME website for information.
Beers with a miner – podcast
A great initiative started by a woman with a passion for mining and the people within the industry. Sharing stories and asking questions of your workmates can be a big help, no matter your gender.
BHP Billiton aims for 50% female workforce by 2025
We find it fantastic that BHP is making this bold target and we believe it will set a new benchmark and example for others to follow. It will signal to younger generations and to female professionals in the industry that things are shifting and diversity and inclusion is now part of the strategy.
Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/19/bhp-billiton-aims-for-50-female-workforce-by-2025
Workplace Diversity Workshops
Supported by Biz Better Together and facilitated by resource industry employer group AMMA, the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) is this November hosting three unique half-day workshops aimed at “Enhancing Workplace Diversity” in Australia’s resource industry.
Taking place in Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne, the 2016 AWRA Workshops will bring together the leading authorities on workplace diversity in the resource industry.
WIMWA
2016 Summit
2017 Mentoring Program
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Sweden
Deborah and Åsa participated in the mining industry supplement that went out Sweden’s major business paper, Dagens Industri, in September. The supplement is mostly in Swedish, but Deborah’s editorial on women in mining is in English and can be accessed here:
http://europeanmediapartner.com/pdfs/varnyagruvindustri4/index.html
EuroMineExpo
Deborah, representing IWiM, was invited to be a moderator at a session on sustainability at EuroMineExpo in Skellefteå, Sweden in June. Georgette Barnes, head of WiM Ghana, was invited to speak about her experiences as a woman entrepreneur in the mining sector. The conference organisers provided positive feedback about Deborah and Georgette’s participation and we hope for an on-going relationship.
United Kingdom
Women in Mining UK (“WIM UK”), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting and progressing the development of women in the mining and minerals sector, is pleased to announce that Debbie Thomas will join the Advisory Board as Non-Executive Chairperson with immediate effect. Debbie replaces Amanda Van Dyke who has stepped down as Executive Chairperson today. The Nominations Committee of the WIM UK Advisory Board undertook a rigorous search process led by Swann Global on a pro bono basis.
Debbie Thomas, WIM UK Chair said: “WIM UK is an important and relevant organisation for women in the mining industry, not only in the UK but worldwide. As a woman who has worked in the sector for over 20 years, I am passionate about encouraging women into the industry and working to ensure a career trajectory which benefits all stakeholders. I am looking forward to working with the Members, Advisory Board, Management Committee and Sponsors to leverage the great work already done by WIM UK and to embark on a strategy to achieve our stated goal of promoting and progressing the development of women in the mining and minerals sector.”
Debbie’s career in the mining industry has spanned over 20 years. She has worked in the UK and African practices at Deloitte for the last two decades and was Head of the Metals & Mining Team and latterly Head of the Africa Services Group. Debbie sat on the Board of the Deloitte UK Global Markets group, which is focused on in and outbound investments to and from international markets. She was a lead partner on the Deloitte Growth Escalator programme where she mentored CEOs from all industries on emerging market strategy, particularly in Africa. Debbie was a senior facilitator for Deloitte’s CFO Transition Lab program which assisted CFOs in preparing for their new role and managing multiple stakeholders.
She created and was the lead Training Officer for Deloitte’s South African Graduate programme which trains 100 South African graduates in London to become chartered accountants. She holds a number of Board positions including Chair of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) UK Board, is the International representative on the SAICA full board and a member of the Advisory Board to the South African Chamber of Commerce and Education Africa. She was a member of the UKTI Sub-Saharan African Taskforce and the Africa Advisory Board of CityUK.
She has been voted one of the top 100 most influential South Africans in London and top 100 women in mining globally. She has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Natal in Durban and an Honours degree in Accounting from the University of South Africa. Debbie has a passion for people development and diversity and lives in London where she successfully juggles the role of partner and mother.
WiMUK Toolkit
Women in Mining UK launched their toolkit to help mining companies solve the issue of gender parity in the sector. It is a great document and we applaud them for the initiative.
http://www.womeninmining.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/EY-Women-in-mining-report_EMAIL-double-spread.pdf
Student secures first female mining scholarship at Camborne School of Mines
A student at the world-famous Camborne School of Mines has been awarded a valuable scholarship, as she embarks on her first steps towards forging a successful mining career.
Samantha Hicks has secured a £6,000 scholarship from Women in Mining (WIM) UK to assist her studies on the MSc Mining Engineering course, offered at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
The scholarship was established as part of a wider initiative to encourage more women into the field of mining engineering. The MSc course offered at the University of Exeter is the only one if its kind anywhere in the UK.
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Canada
WIMBC Fundraising Initiative
Donate to the Córdoba Women Fabric Drive
As part of WIMBC’s new initiative to partner with various charity groups, for October and November of 2016, their charity of choice is the Córdoba Women’s Group.
Small-scale mining in the area caught the attention of international explorers and currently Cordoba Minerals and High Power Exploration are advancing a copper-gold exploration project. Prior to starting any geological exploration activities in the area, Cordoba met with the people of the local villages and talked at length about the exploration process. They have since initiated an incredible social program in the area, in parallel with exploration activities, with a range of projects in place including jobs, training, building schools, supplying computers and the internet, bee keeping, and social programs for the women, including small business skills for making and selling handicrafts.
Freelance writer and WIMBC member, Kylie Williams will be leading a WIMBC fundraising campaign for the Women of Córdoba. You can help, by donating fabric, cotton, or $5 – $10 towards a new sewing machine for the women to share. More details about how you can contribute will be conveyed in person at the next WIMBC Lunch and Learn, set for October 13 and also details will be posted on the WIMBC social media pages.
Leadership in Transition program
In September, WIMBC promoted Minvera Foundation’s Leadership in Transition program. The Leadership in Transition program (LIT) is an intensive six-month program (one full day/month) that brings together women from a variety of backgrounds who are ready to transition into something meaningful, financially viable and takes into account all of their brilliance, leadership skills and resources.
They run one cohort each year, starting in January. The in-class sessions are held one Friday per month from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.
Click here for information and registration: Leadership in Transition
Women Who Rock
Welcome to three new members of our Advisory Committee. Experts and insights from the mining industry.
WIM Toronto
In September, WIM has a team walking to support the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (PMCF) during the annual 25km OneWalk to Conquer Cancer event. The WIM team was the top team among all mining teams and one of the best overall corporate fundraising teams. The WIM team rasied close to $900,000. Jane Werniuk has been a champion of the team and is a major fundraiser and volunteer to the OneWalk.
Saskatchewan
Elvia Torres Morales of Mosaic Potash Esterhazy attended the WIMWiN Mine Your Potentail event in September in Saskatchewan. Here are highlights:
Key Note Speaker: “Meandering through a career in Mining” – Dr. ‘Lyn Anglin Chief Scientific Officer at Imperial Metals Corporation based in Vancouver discussed her career path and some key decisions she made and what she learned from them. One of her lessons learned was “Don’t sell yourself short”, she offered some statistics about why women don’t apply to jobs since they think need to meet 100% of the requirements, men do not think the same and believe if they meet 87% they have a good chance.
“Mining Champion” , focused on the theme of learning what you need to know, where to find answers and how to address situations when you’re put on the spot as the “resident expert”.
“Work life Balance” focused on a reality check of what your life looks like, whether it charges you or drains you. Work life balance is not about time but a state of mind, it is how you feel. Solid advice from a Certified Life Coach.
“Mining 101” Edith felt like she was back at the University! Great explanation about the life of a Mine. The focus was on a Mine development project in BC.
“Open Mic” open forum to discuss whatever we wanted. This was actually a great discussion, so many questions. How can we empower young women to continue a professional education after high school? , how can we integrate other women working as trades to participate and join this group?. what can we do to support women not lo leave the workforce specially in careers like Engineering? How can we know what motivate them to leave? , what can we do to create and strength communication with Men supporting women inside the organisations? There were lots of opinions nothing concrete but I think there was a great time well spend. We will need days to come up with ideas and strategies.
Women in Mining Northern Ontario Launches Timmins Branch. Read more.
United States
Alicia & Resa
The group has started to update and contact WIM groups in the US, with the main developments being:
WIM National and local chapters:
- WIM National
- WIM Education Foundation
- WIM National – California Chapter
- WIM National – Denver Chapter: Alicia to present at their October meeting about her experience in WIM
- WIM National – Nevada Chapter
- WIM National – Texas Chapter:
- WIM Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS&T) falls under the National Chapters as it is leaded by a member of the National Chapters. For the chapters above Resa Furey is currently writing an article for the US WIM National Quarterly newsletter and will ask for regular inputs.
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Peru
After months of preparation WIM Peru is up and running. The group has already had two meetings, they already have their new committee. In September the group attended an Exhibition called Expomina.
Colombia
We have a new person who is happy to start this group, Carolina works in a company that its employees are all women, there is a lot of positive thoughts how to go ahead with this group, we are constantly talking and will keep you update of their developments
Chile
They had their annual dinner in August, it was said that only 2% of women in the mining industry are in top jobs even though in 2014 the Ministry of Mines created a new division in order to encourage the industry to take more women into new high levels of responsibilities, this has not been implemented.
There have been numerous meetings with the government and there has been some improvement but there is still a long way to go in order for women to be included in more jobs in the mining industry.
It was also discussed about the challenges women have to face when they reach executive roles.
The attendance was great with many participants enjoying the evening and it is hoped next year will be an even bigger event.
Argentina
In the last monthly meeting held at Goldcorp offices these were the topics treated in the agenda:
The Conference held in San Juan, Argentina went according to plan, in the last meeting held by WIM Argentina the comments were very positive about achievements at the event.
Participants were happy with subjects and quality of speakers on the meetings held during the conference.
It was proposed that the Forum should be connected with mining and non-mining institutions in order to increment the gender movement in the next agenda.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_tabs][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]