Women in mining

[Clay Diggins]

Meet Elsa the winner of the International Women in Mining Impact and Influence photo contest.



At Goldcorp’s Porcupine mine, Elsa Nielsen recently received first place in the International Women in Mining Impact and Influence photo contest. Elsa’s entry beat over 200 inspirational photos that illustrate the significant positive contributions that women are making in achieving an inclusive, thriving, safe and responsible mining industry with her "They thought I couldn't do it" selfie. Congratulations Elsa!

In her own words, Elsa shares her story behind the photo:

This picture was taken after a very hard night shift. My co-worker called in sick and the shifter sent me to do the same job both of us were originally lined up to do. He said, "Just get what you can get done".

So, by myself, I cycled a jackleg slash. I mucked out the round before, I bolted up using a jackleg and a stoper installing 8' rebar in the back, 4' rebar in the walls and screened everything. I plotted my slash, marked off my face, and drilled and blasted a slash with the jackleg drill - all by myself. They thought I couldn't do it. They expected the round mucked out and maybe a couple of bolts in the wall. I actually got an apology out of the blue from one of my male co-workers saying “I always saw your gender first - and that meant there were just some things you weren't supposed to be able to do... I'm sorry for limiting you.”

My name is Elsa Nielsen, and I'm a jackleg miner.

I'm lucky to be with a woman who loves to dig, studies geology and is proud of cut up hands and a sore back after a day of mining.

Tell us about your experiences with women in mining.

Heavy Pans

 

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[russau]

That's one tough "cookie" She could out-do-me in a heart beat!

 

[trdking]

i run a low voltage cabling crew. I prefer the girls, they work harder and take pride. They don't fight much either

 

[galenrog]

I have met several women involved in mining. Most are very good at their jobs. Many of those are very adaptable to the immediate situation.

A few years ago, at the Nevada State Mining Championships, in Tonopah, Nevada, two women had entered. The first women in several years. They were not the best single jackers, but they were far better than I have ever been. I heard they were both students in the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering (formerly Mackay School of Mines) at University of Nevada, Reno. I sincerely hope they are still involved with mining.

 

[mendoAu]

I've come across a couple of women gold diggers in the past...ooops, wrong subject, nevermind!!!

 

[beekbuster]

there is a gal here in redding that is a tile contractor. she is about 120 lbs soaking wet. i have seen several of her jobs and they are top notch. assembling is not the most impressive part of the final product, its the lifting and carrying of all that material. average tile shower material weight can easily be over 2k lbs.

 

[spillercanyon]

My wife likes to prospect and mine with me and we have a couple of 40 acres claims between us. She is not as tough as Elsa but neither am I! She loves to work the sluice and the dry-washer (well at least the sluice, she runs the dry-washer out of pure gold fever). I dig and haul the dirt to the sluice or dry-washer and she washes the dirt. A couple of months ago we were working one of our claims, it was getting later in the day, the sun was gone but we are in a deep canyon. I told her we could run two more buckets and get out of there before it was too late, we had been there since early morning. She asked if I had my headlight, which she knew I had since I carry a survival kit including a headlight. She told me she didn't care if we hiked out in the dark we needed to move more dirt. I love that attitude. Of coarse I make it fun as well, I hike in a picnic including a few beers. Women miners rock!!!!

 

[Nitric]

My wife isn't a minor but was a welder for 10 years until a real bad car accident. A few years ago we called her into a place I worked for to weld, since she had nicer looking welds than most of us. She will get right in the dirt while digging for rocks. Hands all cut up from the quartz. Shes rotten too! The last camping trip, pitch black out one night, we are sitting behind a truck looking at stars, she snuck around the truck, got beside me on the other side(I didn't hear her move and thought she was sitting beside me on the other side) and made a growling noise. I almost had to change my pants!!

She may not be as tough as Elsa, but she's a tough one and isn't afraid to get in the dirt, and could out work some guys I've worked with for sure.

 

[mendoAu]

One picture say's it all (my partner):

 

[goldhog]

Love this girl...............
Met her while out mining and used her in a video.
Shooting again with here in July.
She's mainly a gem hound but great kid.
Doc

 

[arizau]

Not the same scenario as the original post but....My mother, wife and daughter all once worked at active mine sites (underground Potash and open pit Copper/Molybdenum). My mother and wife both worked in offices but my mother had the distinction of being the first woman ever to be hired to work, in any position, at an active mine site that was owned by the company she worked for and probably any of the several other nearby mines(?). That eventually served as a door opener (Can I say one of the trailblazers for all women in mining?) for my wife and daughter as they both had the opportunity to work for that same company at a different mine site in a different state. My daughter worked in the Metallurgical Department and was the sole operator of an experimental autoclave that converted Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) into Molybdenum Trioxide (MoO3)* as a summer break job while attending college. She is now a Materials Science Engineer. Proud of them all? Yep

*For me at least, an interesting side note: One bonus to this type of procedure/autoclaving is that the liquor from this procedure contains a fairly high concentration of Rhenium, a rare, strategic, high value metal and that was the main reason for the experiment; recovering a value added product that is normally not economically recoverable. The process is now used commercially.