Despite finding an average salary increase of 18% over the past two years, the survey also uncovered males at senior management levels are earning almost 25% more than their female counterparts. Males in these roles were found to earn an average annual salary of $201,992 compared with females at $154,846.

AusIMM senior policy and research coordinator Monika Sarder said the results, which were presented at the annual AusIMM Congress in Brisbane last month, showed despite an exception at graduate level where women were paid slightly more, there was a downward trend as women progressed through the pay levels.

“Once professionals progress through to more experienced levels, an escalating pay gap emerges, ranging from 5 percent difference per hour for a young professional at Level 2 to 20 percent per hour for a senior manager at Level 5,” she said.

“It is clear that encouraging gender diversity is about more than just increasing the number of young women professionals getting through the door.”

Recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show women account for just 18% of the mining workforce, but 45% of the overall workforce.

And with the industry currently facing a shortage of skilled workers, AusIMM has made addressing the recognition and promotion of females within the industry a priority for the coming year.

“It is great to see that increasingly companies and industry bodies are starting to take a closer look at barriers to women’s participation and advancement in the minerals sector,” Sarder said.

Women leaving to have children, lack of affordable childcare and long distance commuting have been cited as reasons for the lower number of females in the mining sector.