The Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) has announced its finalists for the 2025 Women in Resources Awards, which will be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on 13 February 2025.
CME selected 13 individuals and three companies for the awards. For the Young Woman in Resources Award, finalists’ include Tronox’s Claire Leete, Woodside Energy’s (ASX:WDS) Irene Chandra, and Alcoa’s (ASX:AAI) Ting Ni.
For the Outstanding Operator/Technician/Trade Award, South32’s (ASX:S32) Dusti Rowden, Roy Hill’s Krystal Findlay, and Monadelphous’ (ASX:MND) Kylie Brown have been selected.
For the Champion of Women in Resources Award, Strong Mind Strong Mines’ Becky Felstead, Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) Brendan Harris, and Woodside Energy Jessica Zambrano have been selected as finalists.
Woodside Energy’s Julie Fallon and Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) Shalini Saldanha have been selected for the Outstanding Woman in Resources Award.
CEO Rebecca Tomkinson says the six award categories are recognised professional excellence and the people, programs, and initiatives drive female participation in mining.
“Women are integral to Western Australia’s resources sector and their significant contributions are underscored by the calibre of finalists for Women in Resources Awards 2025,” she says.
In the CME’s latest diversity and inclusion report, it was revealed that women account for nearly one in four jobs among surveyed members, as of 2023. This is considered a 17.8% increase from 2015.
CME reports something of interest, was the gains in the proportion of female managers, totalling 23.5% which represents a 15% increase from 2015.
Female machinery operators and drivers totals 21.4%, while female technicians and trade workers totals 12.9% — representing a 14% and 6% increase respectively. For the 2025 awards, more than 80 nominations were received across the six categories.
Meanwhile, the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) on 13 November celebrated the achievements and lesser-known contributions of companies from around Australia at the Awards Gala Dinner in Perth.
The dinner welcomed a filled room, including Western Australian Premier Roger Cook, Minister for Mines David Michael, Liberal Party leader Libby Mettam and opposition leader Shane Love. AMEC members and other industry leaders were also in attendance.
CEO Warren Pearce says the awards represented “celebrating industry excellence” and without a doubt there were plenty of achievements to celebrate.
“It’s important to have events like this, to take stock and reflect on the difference the mineral exploration and mining sectors make for so many people in Australia,” Pearce says.
“We’re all aware that our high standard of living is linked to the economic strength of the resources industry. However, it’s the difference individuals and companies are making in the communities they operate that aren’t so often discussed.”
WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) was awarded AMEC’s Prospector Award for its Luni discovery in Western Australia.
Luni was first discovered in 2022 after a maiden drilling program was conducted at the West Arunta Project.
Managing Director Paul Savich says the world is watching to see how the company, the state and the industry brings this critical minerals discovery online.
“This is a once in a generation niobium discovery and we’ve been fortunate enough to make it,” Savich says.
Metro Mining (ASX:MMI) was awarded the Environment Award for its Legacy Kaolin Mine Rehabilitation, which CEO Simon Wensley told Mining.com.au, was achieved “safely and efficiently by the site environmental and operations team”.
Embattled Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) was awarded the Community Contribution Award for its partnership with the McGovern Foundation and the Wanderer Program.
The $6.86 billion market capitalisation company aimed to eliminate barriers of employment, and since inception in 2021, the program has helped more than 400 people secure their P-plate driver licences.
Mining services company MEC Mining were acknowledged for General Manager Andrew Dittmann’s children’s book ‘Mummy is a Miner’ and won the Diversity and Inclusion Award.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: AMEC
