Modern Mining August 2023

W0MEN IN MINING

De Beers Group is strongly committed to promoting gender diversity within the mining industry. Jackie Mapiloko, Senior Communications Manager at De Beers Group Managed Operations, spoke to Modern Mining and emphasised the company’s belief that having women in the workplace is not just about gender representation but also about creating a better organisation. De Beers Group creating a better organisation

Jackie Mapiloko, Senior Communications Manager at De Beers Group Managed Operations.

Lerato Radebe has been the Vessel Manager for the mV Coral Sea since 2011.

Sherene Salmon is an Electrical Engineer at De Beers Marine.

Violet Molala is the first female Section Manager for Top of Mine at Venetia Underground.

“ T here are some real business and societal benefits to be gained from the greater diversity of experience, skills, and insight that women present,” Mapiloko says. To achieve their goals, De Beers Group implemented various initiatives and strategies some time ago, and forward-looking targets were set to enable the organisation to achieve equal opportunity and gen der parity by 2030. “Key activities to support gender parity are really about strengthening our pipeline and recognising the intersectional issues that impact women,” she explains. “This includes better understanding the needs and experiences of individuals and encour aging them to feel safe to raise concerns.” De Beers Group has forged valuable partnerships

A female mechanical assistant signalling to a haul truck at Venetia Mine in South Africa.

A De Beers Group apprentice in the processing plant control room at Gahcho Kué Mine in Canada. with renowned organisations like UN Women and WomEng to bolster their endeavours in promot ing gender diversity. Mapiloko emphasises the significance of these partnerships: “As part of our commitment to achieving gender parity in our work force, we extended our partnership with UN Women while our partnership with WomEng focuses on sup porting women and girls to pursue careers in STEM fields, expanding the programme’s reach across De Beers Group’s producer countries.” “We will also roll out WomEng’s Emerging Leader Programme internally to help support, retain, and promote women in technical roles as we work towards achieving gender parity,” Mapiloko adds.

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30  MODERN MINING  August 2023