Significant growth of women in Chile’s mining sector

New report shows 40% rise of women working in mining-related jobs.

The number of women working in Chile’s mining sector grew by 40% in the past 12 months, according to a new report by the country’s National Mining Society (Sonami).

The report says that approximately 33,000 women are occupied in mining-related jobs, up from 23,500 the previous year.

“This is a record figure that represents 12.7% of the mining jobs,” the report reads. “Male employment, on the other hand, grew by 18% or the equivalent to 34,400 new jobs.”  

Overall, mining jobs in the world’s top copper producer rose by 20.5% in the past 12 months, for a total of 259,000 workers.

Writing in the report, Alvaro Merino, research manager at Sonami was encouraged by the overall figures. ‘This means that 44,000 job positions were added within a year, while nationwide employment only grew by 8% in the same period. This is the highest level of employment in the mining sector registered since December 2014.’

The report also shows that Chile’s unemployment rate fell from 10.4% to 7.8% in the past 12 months, while in the mining regions it fell from 10.2% to 8.7%.