In 2008 WIM Canada held it’s first ever International Women in Mining Reception at the PDAC (Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada) Convention. It was attended by over 200 delegates and has grown to more than 500 in recent years. The success of this event and the huge interest it drew inspired our group to formalize. In July 2009 Women In Mining (WIM) Canada Inc. was legally incorporated and the organization has been rapidly developing.
Jean Lucas is Executive Vice President, Business Development for Eco Waste Solutions. This Ontario-based environmental technology company manufactures point-of-need waste management solutions for the mining industry. Jean has been with the company for over 10 years and has been involved with over 20 mining projects. Eco Waste Solutions’ technology is primarily used at mines in remote locations to deal with a variety waste management needs. The company recently received the prestigious Technology Green 15 Award recognizing its innovative contribution to solving environmental problems.
Jean has focused the company’s business development efforts on the mining industry which has been instrumental in driving growth for Eco Waste Solutions. She has developed broad and deep relationships in the industry among a range of mining professionals from environmental consultants and engineering managers to mine operations and maintenance personnel.
Jean is a member of several mining associations and is founding director of Women in Mining Canada where she currently serves as Vice-President on the WIM Canada Board of Directors. She has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Biology.
Catharine Shaw has over 10 years of Marketing and Business Development experience and has been working with Golder Associates Ltd. since August 2002. Golder is an independent, employee owned, global group of companies specializing in engineering and environmental consulting services.
Ms. Shaw currently the Business Development Manager for the Mining Sector and is responsible for strategy and implementation of their marketing and strategic business programs across Canada and globally. Ms. Shaw is the recipient of Golder Associates 2008 President’s Award in the category of Customer Service and New Client and Business Development Excellence.
Prior to joining Golder she was partner and owner-operator of an advertising and communications company creating business sales systems for the human resource industry, as well as co-founder and Vice President of a designated drinking and driving service, LifeLine Shuttles (1997).
She is active within the mining community and a member of the following associations; Women in Mining Toronto Branch, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Toronto Branch, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, and a founding director of Women in Mining Canada, Board of Directors.
Mary Louise joined Smith Nixon (now Collins Barrow Toronto LLP) in 1996 and provides audit and accounting services to the management of publicly traded companies, owner-managers and not-for-profit organizations in a variety of industries.
As a Partner of Collins Barrow Toronto LLP, Mary Louise works extensively with junior mining companies.
Prior to joining Smith, Nixon, Mary Louise worked for a public company as a finance manager providing business and accounting support for franchises.
Mary Louise graduated from the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1989 with a Bachelor of Commerce, she then articled with a national accounting firm and in 1991 she obtained her CA designation. Since 1993, Mary Louise volunteers her time as treasurer for many non-for-profit organizations. She is a founding director of Women in Mining Canada.
Mafalda Arias was born, raised and educated in Lima, Peru. She has over nineteen years' experience working in various capacities in private and public companies in the mineral exploration and mining industries in Canada and South America. She studied in Peru, France and the US and has travelled extensively throughout Europe and South America. Mafalda is fluent in French, Spanish and English. Her exposure to different cultures ignited her interest in understanding and dealing with cross-cultural situations in-depth.
She is passionate about mining and the challenges the industry faces in the different parts of the world where it operates. Mafalda is currently a graduate student working on a Master's Degree in Intercultural Relations at the University of the Pacific, California. She also has a Business Administration degree from the Universidad de Lima, Peru and a post graduate certificate in International Commerce from ESAN, Peru. In addition, she is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a statistically reliable, cross-culturally valid measure of intercultural competence for meeting business goals and a certified facilitator of Cultural Detective methodology, a process for building bridges across cultures and organizations.
Mafalda was the co-chair of the organizing committee for the CIM Women in Mining Forum in May 2010 and is a committee member for The Minerva Foundation for BC Women, sponsor of the Women in Resource Award to take place in December 2010. She is a member of Women in Mining (Vancouver Chapter), the Vice President of SIETAR BC, and a member of AMEBC, CIM and PDAC. Ms. Arias is the founder of Mafalda Arias and Associates.
Kathy Chapman has over 30 years managerial and executive experience in accounting, administrative and human resources capacities for manufacturing, franchising, merchant banking and junior mining exploration companies. She has worked across Canada and in the UK for both private and publicly traded firms.
Mrs. Chapman holds the position of Chief Financial Officer of Yukon Gold Corporation, Inc. and is also the Corporate Secretary. She was instrumental in putting Yukon Gold on both the OTCBB and TSX. Beginning in 2000 and continuing to this day she has also enjoyed her entrepreneurial pursuits by owning and operating her own accommodation business in Paris, Ontario. In 2003 Mrs. Chapman established a free wig program in her community for breast cancer patients. Since November 2008 she has been Co-Chair of Women in Mining Toronto Branch.
Curtis Clarke, a Mining Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the minerals industry, including progressively more responsible positions in mine operations, geology and engineering at major mining companies. His mining experience encompasses underground narrow-vein mining methods as well as mechanized high productivity bulk mining. Mr. Clarke gained international business experience with the establishment of business units for equipment manufacturing companies and in his management of global engineering, marketing and sales teams.
Mr. Clarke has had the good fortune to have worked for such Canadian mining icons as Kidd Creek, Kerr Addison, Giant Yellowknife, United Keno Hill and Falconbridge. He has also been employed with numerous transnational companies including Atlas Powder (USA), Tamrock (now Sandvik, Sweden), ICI Explosives (UK), Atlas Copco (Sweden), MacLean Engineering (Canada) and Behre Dolbear (USA). In the construction sector, Mr. Clarke participated in sub-Arctic mine construction with Clark-Bowler, the pre-eminent northern Canada civil constructor.
Based in the Mississauga, Canada office of Australian engineering firm Coffey International, Mr. Clarke specializes in the areas of asset management, market analysis, economic engineering studies, performance improvement, project management, mine engineering, business development strategies and sales management. He is a QP Member of the Mining & Metallurgical Society of America, as well as a member the SME, CIM and WIM.
Tabetha Stirrett graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Saskatchewan in 1997. Tabetha has over 13 years of experience in both the mining and oil and gas sectors.
She worked for 2 years as an exploration geologist for a junior gold mining company in Saskatchewan. She then moved onto work as a Wireline field engineer for 2 years at Weatherford where she was promoted in 2002 to Assistant Manager of the Open Hole Wireline division. There she managed and mentored a group of approximately 20 geologists and engineers. She was responsible for the day to day operations of an around the clock, busy oil and gas service company. She has 8 years of experience in the quality control aspect of wireline logs. In January 2008 Tabetha joined a junior exploration company in Saskatoon where she was the Project Manager. She was responsible for the overall geology, organization and supervision of exploration projects in Northern Saskatchewan. In November 2008, Tabetha joined the North Rim team as a senior geologist and has been part of several potash and coal projects.
Among Mrs. Stirrett’s most recent experiences is the management of an extensive coal exploration and delineation program for NuCoal Energy Corp. in south-central Saskatchewan. She has also worked on the Athabasca Potash “Burr Project”, Encanto Potash Corp. and most recently on the Boree Salt Deposit in Queensland Australia and the Holbrook Basin in Arizona. Tabetha is also the Business Development Manager and is responsible for developing a diversified portfolio of new sustainable clients for North Rim.
