Every so often, the conversation returns to the same question: what is it like to be a woman leading an energy or mining company?
The question is valid, but perhaps incomplete. The real challenge — and also the real opportunity — is something else: how to build organizations where talent is the decisive criterion for leadership.
American poet Emily Dickinson once wrote a line that often comes to mind: “We never know how high we are, Till we are called to rise.” In the world of energy and mining, that phrase carries a particular meaning. These are demanding industries, where decisions are made in complex environments, and where safety, operational discipline and long-term vision are not abstract concepts but essential conditions for things to work.
Standing up in this sector means accepting large-scale challenges: technical, operational, human and also social.
That is why, when I think about women’s leadership in the industry, I prefer to think simply about leadership. The discussion that truly matters is not how many women sit at a decision-making table, but how many people with talent, preparation, and character are capable of leading projects that require vision and responsibility.
This is not an ideological debate. It is, simply, a matter of competitiveness.
Attributes, commitments and strategic intelligence
Capital-intensive industries — such as mining or energy — operate on long time horizons. Every investment decision requires discipline, technical knowledge and the ability to build diverse teams. In that process, talent becomes the scarcest resource.
Along that path, it is also worth recognizing something evident: more and more women are transforming the spaces where they participate. They do not do so by asking for permission, but by contributing conviction, strategic intelligence and a capacity for listening that often enriches the way decisions are made. That more integrative perspective — capable of connecting ideas, people and purposes — strengthens teams and helps build stronger organizations.
At Newmont, that conviction translates into concrete actions. Recently, we announced a strategic investment of close to $800 million for the Cerro Negro Expansion 1 (CNE1) project in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz Province. The initiative will unfold over the next six years and includes more than 30 surface and underground works, with a clear objective: extend the productive life of the deposit beyond 2035 and strengthen its geological potential.
But an investment of this scale is not explained by infrastructure or technology alone. It is also an investment in people.
The project will help sustain current jobs and generate 270 new positions during the execution phase, with a focus on developing local talent and increasing the participation of companies from Santa Cruz in the value chain. Today, the operation directly employs more than 1,400 people and generates around 4,800 indirect jobs.
That is the real leadership challenge in sectors like ours: building capabilities that go beyond individual projects and become opportunities for communities.
In that effort, female leadership is neither an exception nor a banner. It is part of the natural evolution of organizations that understand that talent has no gender, but it does require space to develop.
Leading Cerro Negro, a world-class productive enclave
At times, public debates focus too much on representation and too little on the responsibility that leadership entails. Running an energy or mining company means making decisions that affect thousands of people, regional economies and the generation of foreign currency for a country.
The Cerro Negro Mine, for example, exports between $400 million and $600 million annually, contributing significantly to the Argentine economy. Sustaining — and expanding — that level of production requires planning, investment and teams prepared to operate in demanding environments.
That is where the discussion about talent takes on real meaning.
When an organization succeeds in bringing together the best people — regardless of their origin, gender or background — the result is often greater innovation, better decisions and stronger projects. Organizations that understand this move toward the future with greater solidity. When talent finds the space to fully develop, not only do people grow — companies and the communities around them grow as well.
Ultimately, leadership is not about occupying a position. It is about rising to the challenge.
And in industries like ours, where each project is measured in decades and every investment requires conviction, standing up — as Dickinson wrote — is only the first step.
The real challenge is building, together with others, something worth sustaining over time.