Despite the stereotypes and the obvious struggles women in the mining industry have faced, those who\ue2\u20ac\u2122ve made it believe the field is full of opportunities. - Women\ue2\u20ac\u2122s work: The Holmes Safety Association Bulletin - February 1998

There\ue2\u20ac\u2122s no denying that mining is a male-dominated industry. Yet thanks to technologies developed over the last 20 years, societal changes in sex role stereotyping, individual determi\uc2\uadnation, and the willingness of companies to train women, there are no jobs in mining today where women are not represented. Women are drillers and electricians as well as drivers of heavy equipment and haulpack trucks. They perform jobs ranging from field exploration and metallurgy to clerical and janitorial and warehousing positions, from prospectors and underground blasters to geologists and land reclamation experts, from communicators to legal experts on mining law and more. The Women\ue2\u20ac\u2122s Mining Coalition, founded in 1994 to shepherd responsible legislative mining reform, estimates that 20 percent of the workers in the mining industry are women. Although women are concentrated in clerical and adminis\uc2\uadtrative jobs, at least 10 percent are in non-traditional, hardhat jobs, claims the group. There are women in management, but the numbers in senior management remain small, especially in larger companies