JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) –  Greenfield mining operations should strive to diversify their employee base, with women representing 50% of their workforce and 20% to 30% of their executive teams, says diversified metals and mining major Vedanta Resources chairperson Cynthia Carroll.

Addressing delegates via video conference at the seventh yearly Women in Mining conference, which took place in Johannesburg, the former Anglo American CEO lamented that the status quo, where women represented only about 5% to 10% of the mining workforce and around 8% of Fortune 500 companies’ board members and senior management, was "abysmal and unsustainable".

"A diversity of views of cultures and genders can lead to better-performing businesses," she argued, adding that women brought valuable insight and fresh perspectives to the mining industry and that it was crucial for mining houses to integrate women into all levels and divisions of their companies.

Carroll said that the male-dominated mining industry had yet to overcome its deeply entrenched prejudices towards women's role in industry, despite the significant strides that had been made by women in recent years.

Further, companies should ensure that women were represented on every board and executive structure of the business.

She noted that, for women to climb the corporate ladder, companies needed to have a talent pipeline for their female employees. “However, companies must promote women on merit and not push them into positions that they are not ready for. This is setting them up to fail," Carroll cautioned.

She also recommended that mining companies give female mineworkers six months paid maternity leave and offer one month paternity leave to male mine employees.

"Women must believe in themselves and just ignore the naysayers. It is not worth the stress and worry. We must just do our best as women and let the results speak for themselves, this is the best way to silence our critics," Carroll asserted.