Women of Inspiration
Tenacity, Persistence, Dedication
Women have been playing an important role in the mining industry for years, exhibiting tenacity, persistence and dedication.
The women featured have played and are currently playing an important role in the advancement of women in the industry.
Women we celebrate and are inspired by

Shaaw Tláa (Kate Carmack)
Member of the Klondike Discoverers
George Carmack, Robert Henderson, Skookum Jim Mason and Dawson Charlie have historically been credited with the discovery that set off one of the world’s greatest gold rushes. The Klondike Gold Rush established Yukon and opened up the North, as well as Canadians’ eyes to its possibilities. New information has since revealed that Kate Carmack also played an integral role in making this discovery. As an Indigenous woman, Kate’s traditional knowledge and skills allowed her and George Carmack, along with Skookum Jim Mason and Dawson Charlie, to live off the land in the Forty-Mile and Stewart River areas during their years of prospecting. Specifically, Kate’s ability to sew and market her mukluks and mittens to fellow prospectors provided the means to support their work. Clouded in hearsay and sensational reporting at the time, most historians agree that it is not clear who made the actual discovery. Oral histories shared among local Indigenous communities suggest that Kate herself found the first nugget of gold. (Source: Canadian Mining Hall of Fame)
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Dr. Alice Wilson
Canada's first female geologist
Dr. Alice Wilson worked with the Geological Survey of Canada from 1909 to her retirement in 1946. While she did rise through the ranks of the GSC, her ascent was more gradual than that of her male colleagues. In 1920, she was promoted from clerk to assistant paleontologist, and in 1926 to assistant geologist (“geologist” was considered a higher designation). In 1940, six years before her retirement, she was promoted to associate geologist.
Wilson’s work focussed on invertebrate fossils found throughout Canada from the Paleozoic era and in Ontario from the Ordovician period. She also studied the stratigraphy of Ontario and Québec, and initiated studies of Ordovician fauna in the Rocky Mountains and the Arctic. Ironically, Wilson’s important contribution to knowledge of the geology of Ontario and Québec was spurred in part by sexist policies at the GSC. While she wanted to conduct field work, the survey would not allow her to travel to remote locations with male colleagues (the survey barred all women from conducting field work until 1970). Instead, she convinced them to let her make short, solo trips into the relatively unstudied Ottawa-St. Lawrence Valley. She studied the area on foot and by bicycle. When the survey refused to buy her a car (something they provided to men in the field), she bought her own. (Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia)
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Patricia Dillon
Founder of Mining Matters, Former President of PDAC and CIM
The career achievements of Patricia (“Pat”) Dillon are unique in Canadian mining history as they encompassed leadership roles in industry associations and outreach initiatives to help the sector navigate social change and chart a more sustainable future. She served as committee chair, board member, and president of both PDAC and CIM, and was an early advocate of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Dillon also contributed to the CSR initiatives of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), notably “Towards Sustainable Mining” and “Mining Works for Canada”. Her greatest contribution is as a founder and driving force of Mining Matters, a charitable organization focused on educating young people about Earth sciences, the minerals industry, and their roles in society. She serves as president and CEO of the organization, which has provided educational resources promoting mineral literacy to more than 800,000 students and teachers in Canada, in English, French and several Indigenous languages. (Source: Canadian Mining Hall of Fame)
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