Top female resources sector talent in the spotlight

Three engineers, a dragline operator and a workplace support manager have taken individual honours in this year’s Resources Awards for Women, while Anglo American has won recognition for a program encouraging women to enter leadership roles. This year’s Exceptional Woman in Queensland Resources award winner Sonia Winter (pictured above) began her outstanding career in resources 20 years ago, when she was one of the first women employed through BHP’s graduate mining engineer program. She spent many years working in Central Queensland as a mining engineer, including as the general manager of Poitrel coal mine, and is now based in Brisbane where she leads an expert team focused on global mine planning and closures as BHP’s global resource engineering excellence head. Tanya Olive (pictured right) from Bluff in Central Queensland was named this year’s Exceptional Tradeswoman/ Operator/Technician in Queensland Resources. After starting in the sector 16 years ago in an administrative role, she is now a dragline operator for the Jellinbah Group and recently passed her Open Cut Examiner written exam. This year’s Exceptional Young Woman in Queensland Resources, Ashara Moore, is a FIFO engineer who lives at the Gold Coast and works at BHP’s Saraji coal mine in Dysart. After starting her career as the sole engineer on construction projects in remote areas, she is now a portfolio lead where she heads a team of engineers and is responsible for over $45 million in capital projects. Highly regarded workplace support manager at Anglo American, Kanae Dyas, is this year’s Inclusion and Diversity Champion in Queensland Resources. And Anglo American has taken out the award for Excellence in Diversity Programs and Performance in Queensland Resources. The company introduced a global initiative in 2020 that has significantly increased the number of women in senior management positions, including at its five steelmaking coal mines in Queensland. The program encouraged more women to apply for leadership roles and resulted in a doubling of the number of women in senior positions in just 18 months, exceeding its 25 per cent target ahead of schedule. Moranbah State High School Year 12 student and school captain Lexi Croce is this year’s Exceptional Female QMEA Student. She is driven by the idea of finding electrical solutions to make mining operations more efficient and environmentally friendly. The awards event was hosted on International Women’s Day by the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) and Women in Mining and Resources Queensland (WIMARQ) at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre to celebrate the contribution of women to the state’s number one export industry. It featured a five-star line-up of high-achieving women, led by global business leader and keynote speaker BHP President Australia Geraldine Slattery and new QRC chief executive officer Janette Hewson. Click below to view our gallery of social photos from the awards event: https://industryqld.com.au/well-supported-resources-awards-for-women-event-at-brisbane-convention-centre/ Click below to read how far female participation in the resources sector workforce has come: https://industryqld.com.au/figures-tell-the-story-of-sectors-strengthening-female-forces/

Top female resources sector talent in the spotlight

Industry Queensland

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