After more than 30 years working in mining and sustainability, Dr Patience Mpofu is an undisputed industry veteran – but she never planned it this way.

“Mining chose me,” says Mpofu, adding, with a grin, “but I fell in love with mining.”

After gaining an undergraduate degree in chemistry in South Africa, Mpofu obtained her first job in the industry as a research chemist at Impala Platinum. Not long after she was sponsored by Anglo Platinum to work on a tailings-focused sustainability project funded by the Australian Mining Industry Research Association.

The role brought Mpofu to Australia, now her home, and where she went on to complete a PhD in mineral processing. It was only then, she says, that she realised mining’s unequivocal impact on “planet and people – including myself”.

Mpofu was hooked by the potential to create a positive impact, even if she was often intimidated by being the only woman in the lab or field. “The overalls never fit properly and there were never any women’s toilets onsite,” she says.

Supporting sustainability

Inspired by these early roles – and subsequent senior ones at Anglo American, Lonmin (now Sibanye Stillwater) and South32 – Mpofu’s focus nowadays is on championing sustainability and supporting women in climbing the ranks. Among the many positions she now holds, Mpofu is the CEO and founder of Insight Mining Experts, which supports miners with their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and conducts sustainability research.

“I was reflecting on my career, and I realised I had been working more on sustainability than anything else,” muses Mpofu. It is not just about the environment but also understanding communities’ needs, she explains.

“Even at Lonmin [as senior manager for businesses development and strategy], I was doing transactions, but it was also about sustainability because we decided to give equity to employees and support local communities. When you start thinking, how do we ensure our communities are part of what we are doing? That is sustainability.”

That role was a ‘learning curve’ for Mpofu – and where she decided this was an area she wanted to focus on. Later, at mining and metals company South 32, she was promoted to vice-president of corporate affairs and sustainability.

Today, through her consultancy, Mpofu focuses on promoting circularity within the industry. “If we start at the beginning where we hit the rock, then I think we can change the narrative about the mining industry; we need to start thinking about how we are designing the mine of the future and make sure we close the loop,” she says.

Overcoming tailings management challenges

Mofu says many of the issues the mining industry faces are tied to the fact it is still dumping waste.

“People see that waste; we are not leveraging all the ways we can to create value, employment and empowered communities,” Mpofu says.

Insight Mining Experts was recently involved in an UpLink innovation challenge on circularity in the mining sector where start-ups could showcase their work. The consultancy participated because, Mpofu says: “I am passionate about using innovation to change the industry – the projects are phenomenal. That is the next stage for us, to showcase what these people are doing and how mining companies can really embrace or support them.”

For tailings management, where she had an early focus, does she think the industry has made progress? “Absolutely,” she says, “particularly in Australia.” Last year, Insight Mining Experts completed a report on Australia ESG performance of which she says it is a leader “in certain areas”.

While there has been notable progress in areas such as dewatered tailings and processing plants, Mpofu caveats this optimism by adding: “Is it enough? No, we need to do more.”

A huge challenge is legacy tailings that are "just sitting there". “I was in Zambia recently working on an EU circularity project, mining has been [stopped] for decades, and the tailings are still there; they are huge. When people say mining is dirty it is because that is what they see.”

Championing women in mining

Another key challenge – and passion – for Mpofu is getting more woman into the mining industry. She has had her fill of “being the only one in the room to look like me”. 

“It is difficult when you probably don’t laugh at the same jokes as your peers, superiors or subordinates. You want your sisters in there.”

“It has changed a bit, but not as much as we move upwards. It can be lonely. Sometimes you are misunderstood, sometimes you feel you are not enough,” she adds.  

In her career, Mpofu says she has never tried to hide her femininity. At times those qualities helped her to rise up the ranks. Her empathetic leadership style saw her promoted at Lonmin. She became a senior manager there when the company was negotiating with unions after the Marikana massacre, where 34 miners were killed by the South African Police Service. 

“We had to negotiate with the same communities that were not happy, but I think coming in with an empathetic leadership style took me to the next level, including being vice-president,” she says.

Luck has also played a role. When Mpofu joined Anglo Platinum, the organisation had a terrible safety record and changed its senior leadership team. This included eventually hiring the company’s first and only female CEO, Cynthia Carroll, who "fundamentally changed everything". 

“I was lucky that we went through a very strong cultural change in a very short space of time. I was at the peak of my career, and I worked for an organisation that was very good. In general, I was lucky I had some of the most amazing bosses in my early careers,” Mpofu reflects.

However, there were times when she felt "excluded from certain conversations" and considered moving out of the sector.

“In hindsight I realised it takes two. Some people think ‘my work will do the talking’, and that was me, but the lesson was realising you also need to speak to people and say, ‘this is what I want’. It is never just about what you deliver; there are people who never delivered, but they had senior roles.”

She stresses the point: “If senior leadership is sitting with talent management and they don't know you; it becomes difficult for them to advocate for you – I was lucky enough to have mentors, champions of female leadership and sponsors.”

Becoming a mentor

However, more needs to be done to attract women to the mining sector and make the workplace more inclusive. This is something Mpofu has made a personal mission. 

During lockdown Mpofu wrote the Amazon best-selling book Unleashing My Superpowers, a memoir and manual for women working in male-dominated industries. Today, she offers CEOs and executives leadership coaching and diversity and inclusion workshops.

“Many people ask me, ‘if I want to move into the mining industry, what can I actually do?’ And I say ‘it depends’, but I always encourage women to go into STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] because if you are in STEM, it is easier for you to rise because there are not many women there,” she advises.

Mpofu also suggests looking at careers that are becoming more prominent, such as a sustainability analyst or practitioner or working with AI. "Those are the careers of the future,” she says.

Additionally, join groups (such as Women in Mining NSW/WA), try to understand what the industry is and find a mentor, then a sponsor, and as you rise, a coach, she advises.

Mpofu also has a son and knows it can be a struggle for mothers in the mining industry. “Sometimes I had to travel far, and then my son, who was going to pick him up? It was really hard.” This is possibly a reason why she moved into corporate when she did, she says. “At least now there is work from home, maternity and paternity leave, it is getting better, but I think more can still be done.”

Excited about the future of mining

Mpofu, who is a non-executive director at Orion Minerals, says some of the challenges that exist within the mining industry today include the fact that it has lost some of its stock exchange value to Big Tech; squeezed margins; high capital costs and long lead times have put investors off.

“But we can be clever and more innovative, we can take the mining industry to the next level,” she says.

Mpofu believes technology will be the gamechanger. “Going forward, innovation will be so critical," she says. "There are opportunities with AI; look at what KoBold Metals is doing. Exploration is one area where it is absolutely transformational, then companies are going back into tailings to mine – all possible because of technology.

“There are legacies of the mining sector, but we need to start looking futuristically, harnessing innovation and technology, and saying it is for everybody.

“We cannot leave women and girls behind when the mining sector is making strides and it is changing the world," she concludes. "Let's make our environment inclusive for everybody.”