BHP’s copper asset in Chile, Escondida, BHP changed the lives of many women through training and employment opportunities. The Mineras program was launched in 2017, when BHP announced its aspiration to achieve a gender balance within our employee workforce globally by the end of FY2025, and Escondida’s female workforce participation was around 7 per cent. 

The Mineras program (which in Spanish is the female gendered noun for ‘women working in mining’) aims to build female participation across the industry through skills development and training in key employment areas that lack representation, such as operators and maintainers. The program has trained over 450 women in the Antofagasta region where Escondida is located. More than 100 of those women are now working at BHP, helping us make significant progress towards gender balance in Escondida. Female representation at Escondida is currently 34.5 per cent. 

Mineras is a program that connects different professionals through a common goal: to share knowledge and experience to improve the participation of women in mining in the Americas. Mineras is the special ingredient that is building the future of mining today; through more inclusiveness it is creating a sustainable future, with more opportunities for a diverse workforce. Through practical programs like Mineras, Escondida has been able to establish a leadership position in copper production and across the mining industry in Chile.