Winning spaces

Women who work in mines, in a wide range of roles and professions, have one thing in common; they work in a world that until recently was occupied by only men.

Even today, the remote location of many mines means that female miners must often spend several days and nights in a mining camp where over 80% of people are male. But although it does not seem an easy life, it can be hugely rewarding.

One of these women is Sandra Padilla, Superintendent of Minera Alumbrera's chemical laboratory and molybdenum plant. Born in Tucuman, she completed her higher education at the National University of Tucuman where she graduated in Chemistry.

"Nobody in my family had anything to do with mining and when I chose my career, I never imagined myself working in such an unusual field in Tucuman, even more so for a woman," she comments.

After working for four years and completing a postgraduate course in Environmental Sciences in Buenos Aires, Sandra applied for the post of senior chemist at Alumbrera. She was selected and joined the operation in 2002, taking charge of the laboratory at the filter plant located in her home town. This was the moment "to put into practice all my knowledge and experience in a project whose area of engineering is my specialist field. It was a major challenge and commitment," she adds.

Since September 2008, Sandra has worked as the Superintendent of the chemical laboratory and molybdenum plant at the mine site, leading a highly trained professional team that is mostly composed of men.

"The fact that I am a woman has never been an impediment for my performance and growth within Alumbrera, I have never suffered from any kind of discrimination," she says.

Sandra works a shift of five days on and two days off at the mine and says the hardest part of her job is being far from home for days and nights at a time. Although she is single and has no children, she believes it is harder for those that have a family. "I admire my female colleagues at the mine who are mothers. They make a huge emotional effort to not let being away from their kids get them down."

Today women represent 10% of the workforce at Minera Alumbrera. "While we have not brought women into the company to meet specific quotas, equal opportunities occur in all parts of the company, with female employees present in middle management and senior positions as well as in the mine, the molybdenum plant like Sandra or in the explosives department," says Manuel Torres, Minera Alumbrera's Manager of Human Resources.