A METALLURGIST from BHP Billiton Cannington has been nominated an “exceptional young woman” in Queensland’s mining industry.
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Emma Riles, 25, of Canberra, is a metallurgy improvement specialist who works Fly In, Fly Out at the mine site in McKinlay. As a nominee she will attend the Queensland Resources Council’s Annual Resources Awards for Women in Brisbane next Friday.
Ms Riles said her gender did not define her at work, and she was considered a professional regardless of whether she was sometimes the only woman in the work room.
Ms Riles believes more diversity should be encouraged in the workplace, and not just gender.
And that was because different viewpoints were productive in solving worksite problems.
Ms Riles supported awards that celebrated women in the sector though, as it revealed that women could work on the mine site.
She said it was easy for some men in the industry to be prejudiced because they were unfamiliar with women at the workplace.
“If I’ve faced prejudice. When they see you work and see your output and see what you’re doing it doesn’t hold for long,” Ms Riles said.
She did not label herself a traditional feminist, and did not believe equal numbers of men and women should be employed in the sector simply to fill a quota.
Ms Riles said she became a metallurgist after a lengthy fossicking expedition across the country with her family when she was a child.
She was home schooled while her family travelled with a caravan and tent.
“Mum made us walk every gorge in the Northern Territory almost,” Ms Riles said.