OREANDA-NEWS. Two Rio Tinto employees have been named as winners at Queensland’s Resources Awards for Women, recognising their contributions in creating pathways for women in the mining sector.

Hail Creek Mine’s Sandy Newman won the 'Exceptional Young Woman' award and Weipa mine’s Julie Stainkey won ‘Outstanding Queensland Tradeswoman/Operator/Technician’, presented at the tenth annual Queensland Resources Council (QRC) and Women in Mining and Resources Queensland (WIMARQ) International Women’s Day Breakfast held today in Brisbane.

Sandy, a leader of site civil infrastructure projects and the only female project manager at Hail Creek Mine in central Queensland, was recognised for breaking new ground for women in resources and her advocacy for young women to join the sector.

Sandy said “It is humbling to accept this award and be recognised for not just for my career achievements but for the body of work I support at Rio Tinto to encourage young women to join the resources sector.

“I am always advocating for females to join the mining and resources industry and believe we need to capture the younger generation to ensure we have a pipeline of female talent.

“I am the first and currently the only female project manager at site and I manage a team of 20 men. I know how important it is to share my experience and how that can help someone decide whether they want to come and work in the mining industry.

“I want to thank the leaders and team at Rio Tinto for supporting an enabling environment for young women to break the traditional gender stereotypes on role types and foster other women considering a career in the resources sector.”

Julie, a crew leader with more than 15 years of experience at the Weipa bauxite mine in far north Queensland, was celebrated for her leadership of Indigenous employees and female operators while holding a non-traditional role.

Julie said “Leading a crew of over 30 people can be really challenging at times, so I’m really pleased to see awards like these recognise women who step up across the state.

“Nowadays it's not unusual to see women on our crews, but coming into a largely male dominated crew can be intimidating for new female crew members.

“As the only female operational crew leader amongst a group of 25, I hope to continue making it more acceptable for women to complete what was traditionally seen as a male role.”

The awards also celebrated a further three Rio Tinto employees who placed in the awards:

  • Rachel Durdin, principal advisor of strategic planning in Technology and Innovation, was runner up in the Gender Diversity Champion category
  • Michelle Radlof, a civil and environmental engineer at Rio Tinto Alcan Weipa, was awarded highly commended in the Exceptional Young Woman category
  • Anna Kepper, a fitter and turner at Rio Tinto Alcan Weipa, was also awarded highly commended in the Outstanding Queensland Tradeswoman/Operator/Technician category

More than 600 people from throughout the state attended the event with a further 200 watching the event via live webcasts at breakfast in Blackwater, Mackay and Moranbah.

About Sandy Newman

After staring her career as a designer with Main Roads, a personal challenge and desire for change saw Sandy Newman join Rio Tinto Coal Australia and the mining and resources industry just over four years ago. In that short amount of time she has moved quickly and seamlessly from a technical role in the corporate office to numerous operational roles including at a time the only female in the technical services engineering team. A valuable member of the Hail Creek Mine team, Sandy is currently leading site civil infrastructure projects and is the only female project manager. She is also the first female at Hail Creek to do this particular role and has delivered all of the projects under her management on time and on budget. Sandy is passionate about advocating for more women in mining and dedicates as much time as she can to speaking with school age females about the opportunities the mining and resources industry can offer women and in turn what women can offer the sector.

About Julie Stainkey

Julie moved to Weipa almost 30 years ago, and knew from the first time she saw the haul trucks that one day she would drive them. Determined to make her mark in the mining industry and join the mine in Weipa, Julie applied for a seven-hour mine operator role in 1998 and transitioned to a 12-hour mine operator role after gaining initial experience. Julie is now the only female operational crew leader amongst a group of 25 (including mining operations and development) and has been leading her crew of 30 mine operators for over three years. One of Julie’s focuses at work is to support Indigenous employees and females within her crew. Rio Tinto Alcan Weipa transitions local Aboriginal employees (from Traditional Owner Groups on which the business operates) through a traineeship programme. Julie also supports new female crew members and offers her experiences and challenges as a foundation for support.