Article by Karma Barndon, courtesy of MiningNews.net
03.03.2025
Western Australian mining trailblazer Gina Rinehart, the executive chair of Hancock Prospecting, is no stranger to challenges, with Australia’s richest woman successfully rebuilding late father Lang Hancock’s financially troubled company from the ground up after taking the reins in 1992.
While her roots lie firmly in iron ore, Rinehart also has investments in copper, potash, gold, coal, cattle, dairy and property.
She told Australia’s Mining Monthly the challenges facing women in mining in 2025 faced men too.
“With record business failures, cost of living increases, more than seven consecutive quarters of falling living standards, reckless government spending largely in the name of the Paris Accord, record government debt and dwindling investment, the future of mining in Australia is not positive for women, men or their families,” Rinehart said.
“If the government continues with the wrongly called ‘renewables’ focus, Australia risks falling behind in things such as artificial intelligence, which would bring more and more opportunities for women to have interesting and fulfilling careers in mining.”
Rinehart said mining had always been a male-dominated industry and many roles required physical strength and exposure to harsh conditions.
With more companies investing in mining camps and technology changes, more and more women have taken on technical and operational roles and some leadership roles too, earning much higher salaries than in traditional industries like hospitality, nursing and teaching.
Rinehart said the biggest change for her was the huge increase in government red tape, regulations, approval times, the complexity of government paperwork and compliance reporting.
She said the time, huge money waste and risk associated with those changes had reduced productivity across the sector.
“For example, the Pilbara iron ore industry established a town and mine at Tom Price and a town and port at Dampier, plus 200 miles of railway and sidings and hundreds of miles of roads and other infrastructure in just 21 months,” Rinehart said.
“That would be impossible today as on average, it now takes around 17 years to navigate government approvals, complete construction and begin operations.”
Advice for young women wanting to enter the mining sector
For Rinehart, there is no substitute for hard work and dedication or doing that little bit extra.
“You need to work hard, be responsible, find out what skills are needed and develop those needed skills,” she said.
“Don’t expect special treatment, just show you can contribute and are willing to do so and let your work and attitude speak for itself.”
Rinehart said mining could be a rewarding career that led to financial independence but only if the job was based on merit.
“And I suggest you drop any entitlement culture and any feeling that you should start at the top by showing that you are willing to learn,” she said.
“While you’re young and before planning for children, it’s wise to pursue an additional degree, which can be much easier to accomplish before marriage and parenthood.
“Not only does it expand your knowledge base as a career safety net, but it also opens a wider range of opportunities in the future.”
Cut gender quotas
Rinehart said it was about merit, not gender.
“Stepping out of the perspective of the mining industry, would you want a brain surgeon, or a back surgeon, to operate on you based on gender balance, or would you want someone in that role because of their experience and ability?” she asked.
“Women should not have to live under a cloud of doubt as to why they were chosen for a role [and] if we hire based on merit, more talented women will enter the industry and be respected based on their merit, aptitude and attitude.”
Rinehart believes girls need to be taught about mining at a young age so they do not just consider it a dirty word.
“Quotas and mandates, whether internally driven due to government policy or directly imposed by the government, will have a detrimental effect on the industry and its future,” she said.
“If you’re having dental work done, do you want it performed by a woman just for the sake of parity, even if she is not the most experienced or capable?
“Do you want lifesavers, firefighters, first responders, police officers, defence personnel, ambulance staff, control tower operators, plane mechanics, pilots, or ship captains chosen based on gender quotas rather than the skills and capabilities required for the job?
“The most capable individuals should be selected for roles, rather than enforcing gender parity at the expense of competency and ability [and] moreover, how can we trust advocates pushing for these mandates to allegedly advance women’s interests if they struggle to be able to state what a woman even is.”
Rinehart said exiting the Paris Accord would allow more development of AI and its applications and make mining more accessible for women.
In the lead up to International Women’s Day Australia’s Mining Monthly approached female mining executives for their views on how women can best make a career in the industry.
