Congratulations to this year’s Glencore Women in Mining 100 finalists

President of Cerrejón, Colombia

Claudia joined Cerrejón as an intern 40 years ago. As the first woman to manage a large open pit mine in Colombia, today she leads a workforce of over 13,800 employees and contractors.  

Claudia’s mantra is “do the maximum possible, not the minimum necessary”. This is an approach she takes while working to drive the implementation of new strategies and technologies aimed at enhancing Cerrejón’s operational efficiency and competitiveness.

“Results are important, but how they are achieved is also important”, Claudia explains.

She also promotes equity and diversity at Cerrejón, advocating for equal opportunity policies that aim to support the recruitment of local community members. Today 33% of Cerrejón’s Executive Committee and 13% of all employees are women.     

Processing Plant Mechanical Superintendent at Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), Democratic Republic of Congo

Marie-Anne’s passion for technology was inspired by her uncle, who worked as an electronics technician. Just before she started secondary education, the all-male technical schools opened admission to female students and Marie-Anne was able to pursue her dream, earning a diploma in Electromechanical Engineering from the University of Lubumbashi.

Marie-Anne joined Glencore’s KCC eleven years ago as a maintenance planner, before being promoted to Mechanical Superintendent. She is proud of the work she has done to disprove the gender and cultural biases that technical fields are reserved for men, executing high-risk operations with exceptional safety performance, achieving zero fatalities and no work-related accidents

Marie Anne says: “I have confronted the challenge of dismantling traditional gender stereotypes that has often meant women's contributions in the mining sector are invisible and undervalued. It’s about leading with confidence in a male-dominated environment.”

Legal Superintendent at Mutanda Mining SARL (MUMI)
Democratic Republic of Congo

As a lawyer, Godelive Kanga, is known to be fair and clear headed. “I do not accept injustice,” she says. “I always like fairness although the world is not fair.”

Godelive started her journey at Glencore in 2018, after working previously as a lawyer at the Lubumbashi Bar. As the current president of MUMI’s women’s group, she is passionate about advancing opportunities for women in mining, advocating for equity for her colleagues and ensuring their voices are heard across the company. 

One of her many successful initiatives was securing a quota for female employees to attend external events and ensuring they received the right training to represent MUMI effectively. In 2023, Godelive also introduced a mentorship programme with local universities enabling several women from MUMI to mentor female students interested in careers in mining.  

General Manager, Metallurgical Processing at Glencore Copper, Australia

Scientific curiosity and a love of problem-solving led Virginia Lawson into Engineering. She has worked in many parts of mineral processing operations, projects and research, and in 2019 became General Manager, Metallurgical Processing at Glencore Copper.

Affectionately referred to as the ‘Abuela de Flotacionâ’ (Grandmother of Flotation), Virginia is highly respected for her work championing new technologies and has been instrumental in shifting industry opinions on flotation technology. 

She says: “I am proud of the combination of projects I have designed, constructed and operated, as well as the people I have mentored and developed along the way. And I am proud of doing this alongside raising four children.”

Virginia set a precedent at Glencore’s Mount Isa Mines in Queensland when she became the first mother to return to an operational role on part-time basis. She has played a major role in developing policies and procedures for women returning to the workforce, such as flexible working, and increased awareness of the barriers many mothers face when returning to work. 

Virginia also works to inspire and advise young professionals through her participation in student and industry events, at WIM events, and international conferences, both as a company representative and as Chair of the Australian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy’s Metallurgical Society.

Team Lead Group Procurement, Glencore Ferroalloys, South Africa

Nkanyezi has worked in supply chains for fifteen years, overseeing corporate transformation projects and working closely with mining customers to provide procurement opportunities for local community suppliers.

Since joining Glencore Ferroalloys as Group Procurement Team Lead, she has doubled the size of her team and delivered significant savings. She is currently Deputy Chair of Glencore Ferroalloy’s Women in Mining Head Office Committee and is also a Fellow of the African Institute for Supply Chain Research where she provides mentorship and participates in research.

Nkanyezi cites her grandfather, who came to South Africa as a migrant mine worker in from Mozambique in the 1930s, as one of her role models. 

“He always encouraged us to work hard and treated us as equals. We all learnt to do the same chores, there was never such thing as that is for boys and this is for girls,” Nkanyezi explains.

Marketing Chief Financial Officer, Switzerland

Alicia Wright joined Glencore’s Risk Management Department in 2006. In 2022, she was appointed as Marketing Chief Financial Officer, leading a team of over 250 professionals in Switzerland and fifteen other countries worldwide.

As a female senior leader at Glencore, Alicia has been instrumental in leading major changes and improvements within the company’s finance space, working to streamline operational processes and automate financial systems on a global scale.

Diversity and inclusion are core values for Alicia, and ones she chooses to promote when managing her teams around the world. She says some of her proudest achievements have been times when she has supported team members in their pursuits, whether by offering helpful information, facilitating a colleague’s personal growth or assisting with complex tasks. 

Alicia believes consistency is key, both at work and in her private life: “I believe that showing up consistently, putting in the effort, and staying committed leads to long-term success and fulfilment. Small, steady progress often leads to the biggest transformations,” she says.