23 Mar INCLUSION AND GENDER, THE GREAT CHALLENGES FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY

The Seminar held in Antofagasta addressed the relevance of moving forward in measures aimed at increasing female participation in the mining sector.

Currently, only 9% of the personnel in the mining industry corresponds to women.

Business cases, best practices and new approaches to strengthen mining business models based on diversity, gender and inclusion, were part of the topics that were addressed in the seminar «Innovation: The best ally of gender equity», that took place in Antofagasta, with a view on raising the awareness of the industry into increasing female participation in the main productive activity in the country.

The meeting was organized by the More Value Company and the Mininn Summit, based on the fact that diversity, gender and inclusion are key to the mining business and its productivity, which can increase by more than 10% in the short term. The meeting was attended by exhibitors and experts from the Antofagasta Mining Cluster, the Alta Ley Corporation, the Mining Council, BHP, Codelco Chile, SQM, Antofagasta Minerals, FCAB, Metso, Metaproject and the Network of Mining Female Engineers – RIM (for its acronym in spanish) among other entities.

It was also highlighted at the meeting that one of the most important challenges facing mining, along with promoting inclusion and diversity, is to increase the participation of women in the entire value chain of the sector. According to the report «Chilean Large Mining Labor Force» prepared by the Mining Competencies Council and presented by its manager, Verónica Fincheira, only 9% of the workers are women.

In this regard, Jenny Rojas, general manager of More Value Company, explained that, “precisely our objective is to promote the gender approach in the industry and share what we have learned and spread the importance of gender equality, inclusion and of the relevance that men and women can be a tremendous complement to make the mining industry even better ”.

The executive also appreciated the work carried out by the Mining Cluster in this type of initiative, “the Mining Cluster of Antofagasta, as a common thread for much of the mining world, it’s tremendously important, because it promotes gender equality as an entity that also encourages areas of development within mining companies with women who are already immersed and who can occupy high executive positions ”.

Yuri Rojo, manager of Clúster Minero Antofagasta, participated in this seminar in the panel “Better protocols for gender implementation, where he highlighted the relevance of these activities: “a more inclusive vision, which massively incorporates the female sector throughout the chain of value of the industry also articulates greater sustainable development and social advancement, especially in the communities surrounding the working sites. As a Mining Cluster, we value these policies and these types of initiatives, which are key to promoting best practices for inclusion, diversity and gender, both in the industry and in the chain of value with the suppliers ”.

Jonathan Castillo, representative of the Alta Ley Corporation, was also part of the panel in which best practices and relevant aspects for gender equality in the mining industry were shared, an opportunity in which he reinforced the importance of being agents of change in order to have a industry more open. «We have to innovate in the development of tools that make work more friendly, for example, in the perspective of the physical strength that it needs to be used, also innovating so that people with disabilities can have real opportunities for integration,» he said.