A Mount Isa woman has taken out the top honour at Monday night's prestigious BHP 2021 Women in Resources National Awards, presented by the Minerals Council of Australia.
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Maryann Wipaki, General Manager of Health, Safety, Environment, Community at Glencore Queensland Metals has been awarded the 2021 Dyno Nobel Exceptional Woman in Australian Resources Award.
Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said Maryann was an outstanding role model for the resources sector, currently managing the health and safety, environmental performance, community engagement and social performance for Glencore's copper and zinc mining and processing operations, which employs almost 5000 people.
"I hope Maryann's achievements and her long-standing commitment to promoting excellence in our sector will inspire a whole new generation of women to pursue a highly paid and highly skilled career in our industry," Mr Macfarlane said.
MCA Chief Executive Officer Tania Constable said Maryann has been recognised for her advocacy on the important role the mining industry plays in Queensland, and for her commitment to workforce safety as a member of the Queensland Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee.
Based in Mount Isa, Maryann is now a multiple award-winning industry leader, having won the Queensland Resources Council's Exceptional Woman in Resources Award in 2021.
Maryann grew up in Cloncurry where she developed a strong work ethic that gave her the determination to succeed in her personal life and work life.
Over her 25-year mining career Maryann's core value has been the active pursuit of improving and sustaining safety performance. After commencing in the training department at Mount Isa Mines she moved into safety where she was one of a small group of people to develop the first safety and health management system for Mount Isa Mines. This was the start of a momentous step-change for safety in mining, coinciding with the introduction of new mining legislation in Queensland, that influenced and cemented her career path.
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Ms Constable said the awards highlighted the diversity, calibre and skills of women working across Australia's world-leading resources industry.
"These awards celebrate initiatives that create a more diverse, safer, fairer and stronger sector.
"As ambassadors and role models, the award winners will inspire more women to enter the resources workforce," Ms Constable said.
Mr Macfarlane congratulated Maryann and the five other Queensland finalists in the national awards on their outstanding achievements.
"These awards play a pivotal role in our sector's efforts to bring better gender balance to our workforce," he said
"More than double the number of women are now working in Queensland's resources sector compared with 2006 when the QRC instigated our Women in Resources Action Plan.
"Since then, the number of women working in our sector has grown to 20 percent, and we've just set a new target of 30 percent female participation by 2026."
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