Moving to the next level
July 28 - August 3, 2008
THROUGH mergers and takeovers, Rebecca Kellam has experienced the highs and lows of a company transformation over the past 13 years. Employed by Surpac in 1995 when it was still an owner-run business, and now by Toronto-listed Gemcom Software International (which this month was acquired by three private equity firms), Kellam is relishing the change of dynamics.
Path starts at Forrest
July 14 - 20, 2008
BRONWYN Barnes did not follow a typical path into the mining boardroom. Her start in the industry came only nine years ago when she joined Anaconda Nickel under Andrew Forrest – a “wonderful introduction to the mining industry”.
Energy to burn
June 16 - 22, 2008
KATE Hobbs seems to have found a niche in the mining industry. From her graduate days with the Australian Atomic Energy Commission, to co-founding uranium exploration company Hindmarsh Resources, and now running Uran Limited, her focus has never strayed too far from a certain radioactive element.
Balancing the books
June 9 - 15, 2008
WHEN well-known Sydney lawyer and serial board member David Gonski said at last month’s Women on Boards’ (WOB) inaugural conference in Sydney that “he had never really thought about” the corporate gender imbalance, it perhaps said a lot more than he intended about how far the pendulum hasn’t swung.
Stream sample still low on diversity
May 26 - June 1, 2008
THE former chairwoman of the AusIMM’s WIMnet group (Women in Mining network) says mining companies luring women into the industry is “flavour of the month” but not necessarily due to a fundamental shift in recruitment attitudes. Rather, it’s due mainly to the current skills shortage, she says. Not that that’s a bad thing.
Mixed roles suit engineer
May 19 - 25, 2008
TONI Sorensen has worked in a diverse range of roles and mine environments – underground metals, opencut coal, contract mining – since graduating from the University of Queensland in 1995 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) degree. Now she’s exposed to all of them at once.
Warm response to mining in Peruvian district
May 12 - 18, 2008
AN EMPHASIS on social and environmental responsibility is paying dividends for Peru-focused explorer, Candente Resource Corp. Spearheaded by dynamo chief executive, Joanne Freeze, the company is enjoying the fruits of successful financing, strong drilling results and a supportive local community.
Redefining gravity
May 5 - 11, 2008
AUSTRALIA’S mining supply and service sector offers the employment – and diverse range of – opportunities for young people that the mining industry itself affords, according to the managing director of successful growth story Gekko Systems, Elizabeth Lewis-Gray. But the sector is suffering from a lack of visibility and recognition, she says.
The right formula
April 28 - May 4, 2008
WHEN she graduated in the mid-1990s, the mining industry was at rock bottom and jobs – and good pay – were scarce for engineers. But as one of the top chemical engineering students just out of the University of Newcastle, Sharna Glover was soon picked up by BHP Billiton where her career has flourished.
Clear drivers for resilient Binns
April 21 - 27, 2008
WHEN analyst Vicky Binns studied mining engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the 1980s she was one of eight women who started the course. By the end of her first year, she was the only female still enrolled. Her resolve, for which she is renowned, has remained with Binns through a career in which she has forged a reputation as one of the best resources analysts in the field.
Bloom has mixed view of changes
April 14 - 20, 2008
WHEN Lynda Bloom presented a paper 15 years ago on the lack of women in senior management roles in the mining industry, she had such low expectations of a successful mining career she was contemplating a new course. Luckily she didn’t. These days she heads promising Canadian exploration company, Halo Resources.
A change of direction
April 7 - 13, 2008
GETTING a mine to a fully automated stage is just one task on Olga Sawtell’s ‘to-do’ list. She and her team at the University of Sydney’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) have already established an automated container terminal (in Brisbane, Queensland), among other applications, and with her attention now directed at the mining industry there seems little doubt about the end result.
Exploring new frontiers part of challenge
March 31 - April 6, 2008
PARAMOUNT Mining’s Maureen Muggeridge said last year: “I just get on with my job and I happen to be a woman.” It’s a creed also observed by Nanette Anderson, the managing director of Jaguar Minerals. A high achiever, Anderson does not see any obstacles on her career path, but she concedes she might be one of the lucky ones.
Scotland enthused by Saudi minerals
March 17 - 23, 2008
A CHANCE meeting a couple of years ago with the mining industry’s now highest profile woman, Cynthia Carroll, helped convince Ines Scotland that she could lead the first Australian resources company with prospects in Saudi Arabia to list on the Australian Securities Exchange, taking it from a specialist services firm to one with major prospects of its own.