Brown is a key member of Glencore’s Clermont team, highly regarded by both her peers and management for her commitment, passion, openness and integrity, according to the company.

She supports and encourages her team of 47 haul truck, grader and water truck operators to be successful in the mine and at home.

Referring to her work team as “Family B”, she believes they are the real reason she is on site and their welfare is paramount to her achieving great results.

She has an exemplary driving and safety record and her positive attitude, rapport with her crew and willingness to apply herself to any task saw her quickly promoted to team leader.

Brown is a multi-skilled equipment operator, supervisor, risk assessment facilitator and part of the emergency response team.

Her approach to work and ability to inspire others also saw her recognised by the QRC as one of the top three Outstanding Queensland Tradeswoman/Operator/Technicians for 2015.

Brown, who was born in Gympie in Queensland, travelled to Brisbane to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation Management, returning to Gympie to raise a family of her own.

After 12 years as a stay at home mum, she responded to an advertisement for inexperienced operators at Clermont open cut mine and entered the workforce.

Married with three teenage children, Brown and her husband maintain a small business, manage a hobby farm and participate in their community.

Lawson is a senior leader in Glencore, sitting on the board of directors of eight companies within Glencore.

Lawson has 25 years’ experience in finance and management gained from senior roles in global mining companies.

“When I first left high school it was illegal for women to be underground in NSW and Queensland,” she said.

She is the first female director with Glencore Coal, the only female to fill this role and is also chairperson of several of Glencore’s Joint Ventures, another company first.

In 2015, Lawson was the NSW finalist for Gender Diversity Champion in the Women in Resources National Awards.

She was raised in Newcastle and before joining the mining industry in 1998, she trained as a chartered accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce from Queensland’s James Cook University.

She worked in a general accounting practice in Townsville before taking up her first mining job on the greenfield Bengalla Mine, near Muswellbrook, as its financial accountant.

She subsequently worked at numerous mines before joining Xstrata (now Glencore) in 2002 at Liddell Coal and has been in her current role since 2010.

Lawson believes women are part of mining’s future and actively supports women involved in the industry and business in general.

She volunteered at Women in Mining’s inaugural mentor program in 2015 and for the past three years has also volunteered as a business mentor to secondary school students at Australian Business Week.