On the fourth day of the 12th International Congress of Prospectors and Explorers - proEXPLO 2021 - the Round Table "Contribution of women to the Peruvian mining exploration industry" was held, with the participation of experienced geological engineers Silvia Kohler, Clara Indacochea and María Manrique.

During her presentation, Silvia Kohler, member of the steering committee of the Geological Society of Peru, indicated that the participation of women in the mining labor market is 6.7%, placing it after Colombia and Chile, where the participation is 8.8% and 8.4%, respectively.

The ranking is led by Canada (17.9%), Australia (16.6%), Brazil (13%), Mexico (11%) and Ecuador (10%). Peru is only ahead of Argentina, which has a share of 6.5%.

Kohler also indicated that, according to statistical information from the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem), a greater participation of women is observed in artisanal mining production; followed by small mining and the general sector.

"The importance of women in geology can be seen among female students. Female students entering the Geological Engineering career in the 2009-2019 period at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos represented 22%; while in the case of Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, 10%", she commented.

Clara Indacochea, a geological engineer from Universidad Nacional San Agustín de Arequipa, highlighted that the new gender inclusive model in mining generates added value to intangible capital, facilitating access to financing; it reduces personnel turnover and increases motivation, among other positive impacts.

"It is great that the company is willing to commit to gender inclusion policies and pay equity, but we need it to be an active player," said Indacochea.

"To achieve equal opportunities with the training of men and women to fulfill multiple roles without gender exclusivity," said María Manrique, geological engineer and member of Ingemmet's geochemistry staff.

Conclusions

The Round Table "Contribution of women to the Peruvian mining exploration industry" concluded that companies are required to commit to the application of their gender policies to promote the active participation of women professionals in technical, administrative, managerial and CEO positions.

It is also expected that companies take the necessary measures to implement gender equity practices and salary retribution; as it has been demonstrated that inclusive and diverse work teams are more creative, innovative, profitable, less conflictive and have higher performance.

"Peru is on the road to CRISCO. This forces us to be more competitive and encourages many women who have experience in exploration, database management or modeling to become more competitive and be able to sign resources and reserves at a global level," said Silvia Kohler.