• Media Release

Victoria’s first female mine site general manager takes out 2018 Victorian Women in Resources award

Victoria’s first-ever female mine site general manager Melanie McCarthy has been recognised as 2018’s Exceptional Woman in Resources at the Victorian Women in Resources Awards held in Melbourne last night.

The awards, hosted in partnership by MCA Victoria and the AusIMM Women in Mining Resources Network Victoria, recognise the achievements of women and work to support greater diversity and inclusion across the state’s dynamic mining industry.

Melanie is a mining engineer and was appointed general manager of Mandalay Resources’ Costerfield Operations after ten years as the site’s mining manager.  During her time at the mine, she has focused on partnering with local business start-ups to sustainably increase the prosperity of the Costerfield and Heathcote communities.

Chief Executive Officer of Robogals Globals Ami Pasricha delivered the evening’s keynote address, sharing her own journey to become an engineer and outlining the work of Robogals to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists.  Run by university students and young professionals, Robogals has delivered more than 3,500 workshops in 10 countries – reaching more than 111,000 students – since it was founded in Melbourne in 2008.

The commitment of Orica’s Sarah Jones to promoting and supporting gender diversity across the resources industry was also recognised last night with the 2018 Gender Diversity Champion award. Sarah, a senior legal adviser to Orica and its businesses globally, launched the Orica Melbourne Women’s Reference Group in 2017.

Newcrest Mining Limited, headquartered in Melbourne, received the Excellence in Program and Performance award for its Australian Parental Program.  The program includes a parental network, coaching for employees and their managers to assist with the transition back to work after parental leave and establishing a dedicated Parents Room at its Melbourne office.

The 2018 Victorian Women in Resources Awards were proudly sponsored by Newcrest, Orica, ATC Williams and Italpreziosi.

Melanie, Sarah and Newcrest will represent Victoria at the 2018 Women in Resources National Awards  later this year.

Now in their fifth year, the national awards are a partnership between Australian mining and energy chambers to support the industry’s broader commitment to increase diversity and inclusion across the resources workforce.

Victoria’s minerals industry employs around 122,000 across regional mining operations, global mining company headquarters and mine equipment, technology and services companies servicing the Australian and global mining industry and contributes approximately $13.6 billion to Victoria’s Gross State Product (GSP) annually, or around 4 per cent of GSP.