Changing the face of mining is a collaboration between White & Case, ARCH Emerging Markets Partners and Women in Mining UK and updates research first released by WIM UK in 2012.

The report, which featured forewords from Ivanhoe Mines president Marna Cloete and Glencore director Cynthia Carroll, found there had been a 15% increase in the number of women on boards among the top 100 miners from 2012-2022, rising from just 7.9% to 22.6%.

For the top 500, female board representation has increased by 13% to 17.6%.

"Despite this credible progress, mining still has one of the lowest female board participation rates among other industries in the world," the report said.

"At the current rate of change, it will take the top 100 listed mining companies until 2026 to reach the 30% critical mass and until 2030 for the top 500 listed mining companies to do the same."

The research also found that 42% of the top 100 miners did not have any female representation in executive management positions and just six have a female CEO.

The financial case

The data showed that listed mining companies with one or more women on the board had consistently outperformed those with fewer or none.

The research looked at EBITDA margins and return on capital employed (ROCE).

Mixed-gender boards had an average EBITDA margin of 38% among the top 100 and 25.9% among the top 500, compared to 32.7% and 21.2% for all-male boards.

The data showed the more women on a board, the higher the EBITDA margin.

The analysis also revealed that top 100 companies with more than 40% female board representation tended to achieve, on average, a 6% higher ROCE compared to companies with less than 40% female representation.

ESG 

The research showed that mixed-gender boards had much higher environmental, social and governance disclosure rates, as well as much higher MSCI ESG ratings.

"Within the top 100 listed companies, there are 16 entities that do not have any female board members and, on average, they have an ESG disclosure score 10 points lower than the average score for mixed-gender boards," the report said.

"Similarly, they show an MSCI ESG Rating of 2.5 points lower, equivalent to a rating downgrade from BBB to B."

The trend help up when looking at the top 500, with average MSCI ESG ratings for mixed-gender boards of 4.8 versus 2.3 for all-male boards and average ESG disclosure scores of 51.6 versus 41.1.

"There is an old expression, ‘what gets measured gets done'. This research report and the one undertaken 10 years ago are written by women in mining for the whole sector, and we hope that it shines a light on the value of diversity and inspires other historically underrepresented groups to take on similar efforts to make further progress on diversity and inclusion," White & Case's Rebecca Campbell, ARCH's Amanda van Dyke and WIM UK's Carole Cable said.

"Together, and only together, can we build a truly equitable and sustainable future for mining, rebuild society's trust, and attract and retain the top talent the mining industry needs to play its role in the energy transition, responsibly and sustainably for all stakeholders."