100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining

Claudia Rodríguez and Tijana LaBianca are two women who live on other sides of the world and undertake very different roles at work; while one is on the ground at our Cerro Matoso operation in Colombia, the other works from our office in Perth, Australia. Despite their differences, they share an undeniable similarity - a passion for their work and the mining industry that has earned them both a place on the 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining (WIM100) 2020. 

Claudia, a Crisis and Emergency Leader at our Cerro Matoso operation in Colombia has been with us for more than eight years and says she loves her job and working in the industry.

“I joined the mining industry because it is an important sector in the economy, that can change people’s lives for the better,” Claudia said.

“My aim has always been both to champion sustainable mining and to educate people about the positive developments it can bring to communities”, she said.

For over a decade, Claudia has been at the forefront of ‘I Am With Cerro Matoso’, a non-profit organisation working to create better living conditions for Colombia’s Indigenous Embera Katio people, where she works to produce materials in the native language to help preserve their culture.

At the age of just 30, Tijana leads South32’s global Innovation and Improvement team, a future facing position with reach into nearly aspect all of our operations.  

With a background in finance, Tijana’s move to a role in innovation was a shift away from “reporting on things after the fact” to a problem-solving role.

“We can’t solve the challenges of the future using our current ‘toolkit’. We will need to unwind some of our ingrained ways of working and open ourselves up to more unconstrained thinking – relying less on the way we’ve always done things,” Tijana said.

“This will present a huge opportunity for us to embrace greater diversity, as we come to truly value divergent thinkers and creative problem solvers” she said.  

WIM100 recognises the achievements of women who are innovating, trailblazing and going above and beyond for the betterment of the mining industry. You can read the full list of 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining here.