Grasberg Block Cave puts Women in Literal Groundbreaking Role

09 July 2018

A group of 75 women are not only trailblazers, but they are literal groundbreakers as remote equipment operators at the Grasberg Block Cave*.

Roles for women in underground mining have been extremely limited due to the Indonesian government regulations that prohibit women from working in underground mines. But now, thanks to cutting-edge technology, PT Freeport Indonesia has found not just new roles for women, but possibly new careers.

“We’ve hired these local women to work outside the GBC, but they are operating equipment that is actually running inside the mine,” said Chris Zimmer, Senior Vice President-Mine Underground.

The women are all operating underground loaders, but instead of being hundreds of feet underground, they work in an office building on the surface.

Hiring these women is not about filling a quota, it’s about hiring the best people for the job, and  empowering and entrusting them with positions vital to PTFI’s future, Zimmer said.

“They’re not doing menial work. They’re running some of the most advanced equipment in the world and they have proven they are more than capable of doing this,” Zimmer said. “They’re making the same standard of money that the men are making, and they are going to have the same career advancement opportunities as the men have. If you want to talk about equality here in Indonesia, Freeport-McMoRan is absolutely an equal-opportunity employer.”

The women operator work on two shifts – day and night shift - just like their men counterpart do. Hanjas Putra, Superintendent DMLZ Caving and Rehabilitation, who is one of the field supervisors for these women operators mention that during their 12-hour work shift, these women operator make the most of their work hour with less break times – such as smoking and coffee break – allowing them to show better productivy at work.

Line of Minegem consoles at the control room on the first floor of Office Building 4 are the workplace for these women operator. Awkward and inconfidence at first, the women operator are now proficient mastering the art of controlling heavy equipment inside the mine to extract the ore.

“I was nervous at first because I came from a completely non-mining background and I did not have any work experience in operation or in the field. But the fellow male operators here they were so helpful and welcoming! They help to mentor to help us understand how to do daily operation of these consoles. Such a gentlemen,” said Theodora Mayor, one of the fully licensed women operator at the wetmuck extraction operation. 

Delince Tabuni, another women operator originally from the seven tribe express her proud as now she can master one job that has been identical with man’s work for so long, “I am really proud because now we can prove to people that we are women and we can do a male-dominated work as good as the men do.” (Stauffer)

*Grasberg Block Cave refers to the entire PTFI underground mine complex, not just the GBC Mine specifically

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