Four inspiring women working in the resources sector along with an outstanding company initiative have today been recognised at the Women in Resources Awards 2013 presented by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME).
CME Chief Executive Reg Howard-Smith presented the awards at a breakfast coinciding with International Women’s Day, attended by about 800 people.
“The Awards recognise individuals and organisations working to build a world-class industry,” Mr Howard-Smith said.
“Our winners are fantastic examples to women considering a career in the resources sector and those already working within it.”
Over the past five years, CME research shows the number of women employed in the resource sector has grown from 19 to 22 per cent of the total workforce. The national female participation rate across all industries stands at 42 per cent.
“Women are increasingly choosing a career in the resources sector because it provides potential for career advancement, great pay, global travel and a work-life balance,” Mr Howard-Smith said.
“This is the fourth year CME has conducted the awards and we are thrilled they continue to go from strength to strength.
“For those attending the event, it’s a chance to increase their knowledge and understanding of the opportunities out there for women but also inspires them to set their own goals, persevere with studies and hopefully one day, pursue a rewarding career in the resources sector.
“CME will continue to advocate for more women in resources, not only as a way to address the current and future skills shortages, but because companies are recognising the power of a diverse workforce.”
The winners are:
2013 Women in Resources Champion
Julie Shuttleworth (Barrick Australia)
Julie Shuttleworth has 18 years experience in the gold/copper mining industry in Australia, China and Tanzania, including 12 years with Barrick Gold Corporation. Julie's career has progressed from Plant Metallurgist, Senior Metallurgist, Process Superintendent, Process Manager to General Manager positions. At age 35 in 2009 Julie became General Manager for Barrick in Tanzania and is currently General Manager at Barrick's Granny Smith Mine in Western Australia.
Julie was 2007 Telstra WA Young Businesswoman of the Year and 2011 Australian Mining Prospect Awards Mine Manager of the Year. She is 2012 Telstra WA Business Women of the Year, and also received the 2012 Nokia Business Innovation Award and Hudson Private and Corporate Sector Award.
Julie has a strong focus on safety, teamwork and positive attitude. She has a positive impact on
communities around the mines which she operates. Julie regularly speaks at universities, schools,
career-days, and workshops/seminars. She sponsors the Julie Shuttleworth Prize in Mineral Processing at Murdoch University.
Julie believes diversity improves creativity and ideas generation to solve problems, resulting in continuous improvement and greater innovation. Women and other minority groups have different ideas which are often the perfect simple answer to a problem. Again, these ideas improve safety and production.
2013 Outstanding Young Professional Woman
Jenna Robertson (Chevron)
Jenna graduated with a Masters of Engineering from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh and joined Shell as an Operations Process Engineer at Fife Natural Gas Liquids plant in Scotland. Jenna then pursued an opportunity on Shell's Sakhalin Project, at the time the largest integrated capital project in the world, becoming Commissioning Process Engineer on the Onshore Processing Facility in Sakhalin, Russia.
Jenna moved to Perth, WA in 2008 joining Chevron Australia in the Gorgon Project Operations team as a Process Engineer. She worked in the areas of process safety management, process control and simulation and was project manager and lead engineer for the Gorgon Operator Training Simulator project, leading the development of one of the most advanced simulators in the world, presenting this at Chevron's international engineering conference in 2011. Jenna is currently working as Chevron's LNG Operations Business Improvement Coordinator, setting up benchmarking and continuous improvement for Chevron's LNG assets Gorgon and Wheatstone
Jenna is also a classical soprano and opera singer in WA, having performed in 8 opera productions over the last few years, including in leading roles.
2013 Outstanding Professional Woman
Dr Vanessa Guthrie (Toro Energy)
Dr Vanessa Guthrie is Managing Director of Toro Energy Limited, a uranium focussed Australian resources company. She is responsible for managing the development of the proposed A$280 million flagship project, including leading the team through significant detailed technical studies and State and Federal Government approvals. Her ongoing role is to lead the establishment of the Wiluna Uranium Project, including construction and commissioning of the mine, processing facilities and infrastructure, and production and export of WA's first uranium product. Toro's Wiluna Uranium Project is the first uranium project to be approved in WA since the change in State Govt policy in Sept 2008.
Vanessa has a Doctorate in geology, with post-graduate qualifications in environment, law and business management. Vanessa has an extensive background in the mining and resources sector, having worked in mining companies across Australia for over 25 years. She was WA's first female mine manager at Alcoa's Huntly bauxite mine at Dwellingup, and led the development of sustainability practice in Alcoa World Alumina Australia and Woodside Energy. She has also held previous roles with RGC, Pasminco, Goldfields Limited and WMC.
Vanessa loves being part an industry that provides essential resources to communities across the world – whether it is gas or uranium for energy, or nickel, tin, aluminium and zinc for everyday items or other precious metals.
2013 Outstanding Technician/Operator/Trade
Jodie Gray (Newmont)
Jodie Gray joined the mining industry 25 years ago as an inexperienced 17-year-old with a passion to explore WA and carve out a career path for herself. She began work as a blast technician and over the years worked in jobs from green-fields exploration through to open pit production, in the gold, diamond, iron ore, base metals and mineral sands industries. Jodie currently works as a Pit Technician Supervisor at Newmont Boddington Gold.
Jodie has always championed women in the mining industry and has been an enthusiastic promoter of women taking up mining roles. Early in her career, she was promoted to run her own exploration programs and set about developing a skilled workforce of women to employ on contracts throughout WA. She has also established mentoring networks and promoted mining jobs to women wherever her work has taken her.
Jodie’s message to any women wanting to enter mining is to have a go, no matter what your experience.
2013 Outstanding Company Initiative
Chevron – Women in Engineering
Chevron has formed a powerful partnership with Challenger Institute's Australian Centre for Energy and Process Training (ACEPT) to provide women with the skills and confidence to make a successful transition into an engineering career pathway in the oil and gas sector.
A key focus of the course is to provide women with an insight into engineering from a female perspective and to address barriers that might discourage women from entering an engineering career in the resources sector. The initiative is built around the Certificate III in Engineering (Technical) MEM30505 which is the foundation for a range of career, employment and further education pathways in professional engineering or trades.
Participants gain an understanding of engineering career opportunities, develop technical and practical skills for engineering related careers, gain knowledge of engineering design principles, technology and practices and articulate towards employment or higher level qualifications. The program has successfully attracted women from a diverse range of ages and backgrounds to the field of engineering, from school leavers to mature-age mothers, with experience and qualifications in areas far-removed from the world of engineering such nursing and music.
This highly successful initiative has supported a 50% growth in women participating in engineering pathways at Challenger Institute since 2009.
