Empowered women empower other women

Women in Mining is an initiative of Rössing Uranium to empower women to be the best they can be alongside their male counterparts.

As the first woman to occupy the general manager of operations position at Rössing Uranium, Liezl Davies is also spearheading the Rössing Women in Mining (WIM) group.

Currently, Rössing Uranium employs 178 women, representing 18% of the workforce. The female complement spreads throughout all levels of the organisation, from female operators and artisans to female professionals, as well as at management level (foremen, superintendent, manager and general manager levels); both in operational areas as well as support functions.

The main focus of the Rössing WIM group is for women to get together, learn from each other, encourage one another and build each other's confidence. The group was launched in April 2019 and the idea is to meet regularly.

At these meetings ideas are shared in order to create a community of individuals who support each other and build confidence in the workplace as current and future leaders.

Here they also take a look at how to balance work and personal life as wives and mothers whilst being successful career women.

This is a voluntary get-together session with the aim of creating a 'feel-good' group of women working in a mining environment, supporting each other and being in complete control of their own destinies, following the motto of 'We are doing it for ourselves'.

The group identified a list of topics they would want to discuss during these sessions, which include time management techniques, stress management, networking and mentoring, fatigue management and sexual harassment.

“Rössing Uranium is a firm believer in women empowerment and giving women and men equal opportunities to occupy different positions across the mine,” says Davies.