Thank you for that warm welcome, and for inviting me to speak to you this morning.

It’s so good to see so many representatives from Anglo American – feel free to ask me questions.

We have been endorsing Women in Mining South Africa for two years.

We do it because we understand the value, support and guidance that professional networks like these offer.

The numbers

There are more women in mining now than ever before. Women do 10 per cent of the core mining jobs in Anglo American – that is about 5,700 women. Women now also make up 15 per cent of our South African workforce. As recently as 10 years ago, it was technically illegal for a woman to go underground in a mine in South Africa. Back then were just 101 women working in our Platinum business, in largely traditional roles such as administration and data entry. My aim as the Chief Executive of Anglo American is to create the conditions and framework for women to thrive.

Today Anglo American has a higher percentage of women in our workforce than any other mining company. Across our Group 15 per cent of total workforce are women – up from 14 per cent in 2010. More than 22 per cent of management are women – up from 21 per cent in 2010. We have set ourselves the targets of having 21 per cent women in the workforce by the end of 2014, and 30 per cent women in management roles by the end of 2014.

As I look around the room this morning, I can see the progress made to bring more women into this exciting industry. It is also fantastic to see the rise of women in management – where they are in a position to make major decisions and make a difference in their organisations. They are role models, leaders and mentors.

Over the past eight years, we have more than doubled the number of female managers in Anglo American. In South Africa, 25 per cent of all our managers are female – women like Deshnee Naidoo, Chief Financial Officer of our Thermal Coal business who is in the audience this morning. Deshnee received a bursary from Platinum before joining Anglo American in 1998 and obtained a chemical engineering degree from the University of Natal in Durban.

After spending time in Platinum working in metallurgy, process engineering, and planning and strategy roles, Deshnee joined our corporate finance team in 2008.

She also spent two years with me in the CEO’s Office, and then moved on to her current role.

And Khanyisile Kweyama, our Executive Director for South Africa, graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia in the US and who brought extensive commercial experience from her previous executive roles at Barloworld, Altech and BMW South Africa, when she joined us in 2011.

I am also thrilled to say that Khanyisile was recently elected vice-president of the Chamber of Mines. She is an example of how women are increasingly helping to shape the future of the mining industry in this country.

Khanyisile’s election shows just how far we have come even in the five years since I joined Anglo American in 2007.

Our experience

Like others in the industry, our Platinum business has worked hard to overcome historical legacies to provide a better working environment for women. We’ve provided appropriate change houses, suitable PPE, invested in childcare facilities and set up women’s forums at all platinum operations.

But that is only half of the story.

The business has also made great strides through fast-track programmes and targeted recruitment. Over the past six years, the number of women in Platinum’s core functions increased almost tenfold from 405 in 2005 to 3,872 in 2011. Today, nearly one in five managers in our Platinum business is female. And last year, five female project managers were appointed and three women were being trained to become section managers. These initiatives contributed to Platinum being named the Top Gender Empowered Company in the resources industry in South Africa last year.

Our Thermal Coal business employs 1540 women making up 18 per cent of the workforce – and 22 per cent of senior roles. In Met Coal, based in Australia, five years ago just 10 per cent of the workforce were women – it is now 14 per cent. Women make up 24 per cent of staff and moving to 28 per cent.

Another outstanding example is in British Columbia, Canada, where we have our open cut Peace River Coal mine, close to a rural community of around 7,000 people – around 20 per cent of our operators are women and around 30 per cent are staff. Around 50 per cent of Met Coal’s graduate intake for next year is female, 55 per cent of scholarships were taken up by women and around 50 per cent of apprentices are women.

Rapid and significant progress like this is the result of leadership and investing in our people. A workforce with the right balance of skills, experience and training is one of the industry’s most basic requirements. And if we are to address one of the main challenges of bringing more women into the sector – the shortage of women with the right qualifications in key technical disciplines – then we must continue to invest in our people.

Industry experience

Last year, the mining sector invested 4.1 billion Rand to develop its employees.

Mining companies funded more than 3,100 places in learning programmes and more than 10,000 students received bursaries and study assistance.

In my own organisation, training and development is a core focus.

We encourage employees to take part in training, and mentoring and career path initiatives.

We supported more than 1,500 engineering and mining learnerships and more than 700 bursars across our South African businesses last year – the majority of these people were historically disadvantaged South Africans.

Women are key beneficiaries of these programmes.

Queen Hlotse

One of those women is here today, Queen Hlotse [Lot-see]

Queen is a senior shift supervisor for the drilling department at our Mogalakwena platinum mine.

I first met Queen in the US just after she visited our Pebble copper project in Alaska, to talk to local First Nations communities about Anglo American, our values and our approach to sustainability and engagement with stakeholders.

Queen and other member of the Mogalakwena mine team came with me to Washington DC to brief Members of Congress, senior Obama Administration officials and the EPA about our project.

I was inspired by her and her story, which I felt was an outstanding example of how mining can transform people’s lives.

Queen started working for Mogalakwena Mine in 2003 as a drill operator learnership and was appointed as a drill operator in 2004.

She took advantage of the opportunities in front of her – completing a level 3 adult basic education course in math and communication, and continued to do training in surface mining.

She received her blasting ticket in 2004.

Today, in addition to being the mother of three children, she is completing a degree in Mining Engineering at the University of Johannesburg.

Women like Queen are changing the face of mining every day.

By way of example, half of the 40 cadets in Platinum’s new mechanised mining learnership last year were women.

At our Thermal Coal business, around 45 per cent of bursars were women.

Opportunity

There is so much opportunity open to girls and young women to build a career in mining, beyond traditional roles.

Mining offers fantastic prospects in diverse fields such as geology and exploration, mine engineering, metallurgy, sales and marketing, and research and development.

Talent development

Women represent 50 per cent of the global population and are therefore, a vast pool of talent to be tapped.

Women are also a very stable population, particularly in the rural communities that host our operations.

Having a talented and loyal workforce at our door step is important in an industry facing skill shortages around the world, as well as a high degree of labour mobility.

We run a range of education programmes in local communities to secure a pipeline of talent for the future – and young women in particular are benefiting from these programme.

For example, Thermal Coal funds accelerated programmes for top learners in schools around its Witbank operations.

Each year, New Denmark colliery holds a two day exhibition for more than 700 senior students, specifically targeted at girls, to make them aware of careers in mining.

We are also investing in new early childhood centres, primary and secondary schools, and centres for adult basic education.

The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund has now delivered well over a thousand classrooms.

And last year, our Platinum business officially handed over the 15 million Rand Thlabani West Primary School to the Department of Basic Education.
It also began planning and construction for two more schools in labour sending areas in the Eastern Cape and the North West.

It’s estimated around 50 per cent of the children attending these schools will be girls – which is encouraging given these are located outside major urban centres where girls may be less likely to attend school.

These initiatives help bring a more diverse range of people into our workforce, capable of managing the increasingly complex world of mining.

South Africa

Today’s mining engineers and mine managers can be found at the front line of stakeholder engagement.

As well as having a strong technical foundation, they need to be able to get on with people, listen to their concerns and, negotiate and – where possible – to find win/win solutions.

This is particularly relevant here in South Africa where mining is so important.

A successful future for the mining industry will herald a successful future for South Africa because, as we all know, mining plays a critical role in the economic life of this country.

For the past century, mining has been the engine room of the South African economy.

And it is still at the heart of the economy today.

In 2010, the mining sector directly contributed 9.2 per cent of South Africa’s GDP and helped generate more than double that in broader economic activity. Almost one fifth of the country’s economy is attributable back to the mining sector.

More than 500,000 people are directly employed in the industry, while at least another 500,000 jobs are indirectly dependent on mining.

Mining also fuels the South African economy providing the country’s primary energy needs.

In 2011, about 125 million tonnes of coal was used to generate 94 per cent of South Africa’s electricity.

Beyond the mine gate

The value that mining delivers for this country goes beyond the mine gate.

When we plan new mines we must look beyond the perimeter line and consider how we can positively impact surrounding communities, the environment and wider society.

Anglo American, invested 1.9 billion rand in community development in South Africa between 2008 and 2011, the largest contribution in the country made by a company.

That translates into more jobs, greater educational opportunities, and healthier communities with better infrastructure.

Women sit at the heart of all this. They are the glue that holds families and communities together. Women have a unique role to play in helping us sustain a strong and modern mining industry that helps them and their children reach their potential. By way of example, close to 40 per cent of the entrepreneurs we support as part of our enterprise development initiative called Zimele, are women. Zimele provides funding for individual entrepreneurs who don’t have the means to establish their own small business – the vast majority of these enterprises are in disadvantaged rural communities. Our Olwazini fund provides training and small loans for historically disadvantaged South Africans, many of whom are women.

Businesses supported by Zimele have created more than 11,000 jobs in South Africa since 2008 and more than 1,000 companies – and is targeting the creation of 25,000 jobs by 2015. We also know that healthy people are the foundation of prosperous communities. Women, particularly young women, are especially vulnerable to HIV and Aids because of social and cultural norms as well as limited education and lack of awareness.

We are working to address this through education and prevention programmes that encourage young women to know their rights. And our HIV and Aids testing and treatment programme last year tested close to 100,000 employees, their families and contractors and provided anti-retroviral treatment free for 4,000 people.

Our Kumba Iron Ore business runs clinics in the towns of Kathu and Thabazimbi providing HIV/Aids treatment, general healthcare and wellness services to local communities.

Last year, it began operating nine mobile health units, delivering free primary and secondary healthcare to up to 15,000 people in isolated villages in the Northern Cape.

This unique service is bringing world-class healthcare services to women with babies and young children – many of whom have never received healthcare before.

One of the best ways we can support women is to help them create a healthy, safe and stable home life for themselves and their families.

High-quality housing is fundamental to this.

Across our South African businesses, we have committed to spend 2 billion rand by 2014 to improve employee housing options.

And we are encouraging and facilitating home ownership for people like Portia Monedi, who works underground at one of our Platinum mines.

For the first time, Portia and her 11 year old son have their own home in Platinum’s Seraleng housing project after living in a small house with Portia’s siblings for many years.

It is stories like this that show how the mining sector makes a significant contribution to this country.

The future

And mining is not just about the past and the present – it’s about South Africa’s mining future.

South Africa remains the country with the world’s largest mineral endowment, with resources with an estimated value of $2.5 trillion dollars. 

The recent outbreak of violence and intimidation at a number of mining operations, have raised questions about the type of country we want South Africa to be in the future – and the role of mining in that future.

The recent breakdown of law and order saw the country lose hundreds of millions of Rand in revenues and taxes through mine stoppages.

Investors repeatedly ask me what is happening in South Africa – economic growth is slowing and people are thinking twice about whether they invest their capital.

The answer to a strong future for mining lies in all South Africans working together – government, industry and unions – to meet people’s genuine aspirations for a better life, while fostering an internationally competitive mining industry that generates jobs for young South Africans – and young women are one of the main beneficiaries of a strong, developing mining industry.

Conclusion

For many decades, Anglo American has been in the privileged position to be able to make a real difference to people and communities around our mines.

This is summed up in our end line: Real mining. Real People. Real Difference.

Mining has helped hundreds of thousands of women in South Africa realise their potential.

It has made a real and positive difference to their lives through housing, education, training, jobs and career development.

This is a great time for women to be part of our exciting industry.

Let’s keep mining and South Africa strong.

Thank you very much.