Patti Pegues

Biography

Biography

Patti Pegues grew up in a tight knit community in St Catherines, Ontario, playing sports and participating in many aspects of school life, such as student council and other clubs. In high school, her favourite subjects were math and science, and her teachers encouraged her to consider a career in engineering. She applied to and was accepted to general engineering at Queen’s University, a program that allowed her to explore the different engineering options before choosing a particular discipline. She chose mining and never looked back.

For Patti, every mine is its own unique puzzle to solve, ensuring there is always excitement and challenges to be had.  During her studies, she had a series of student jobs, which included working at Teck’s Elk Valley Coal Operation in Sparwood, BC, and two summers in Sudbury working for both Falconbridge (now Glencore) and INCO (now Vale). She also had the opportunity to work at Boliden’s Aitik Mine in Gallivare, Sweden, located north of the Arctic Circle.

One of her jobs upon graduation was at the Lubambe Copper Mine in Zambia, as part of a Vale Joint Venture. There, she was a senior consultant in mine planning and led a process change in the way they were conducting their mine planning. She was able to set up new routines to better integrate the mine planning process and helped build better communication between the operations and technical teams.

Patti overcame several cultural differences in the job to successfully train the Zambian engineers to take over the mine. Knowing that the team she trained and coached is today capable of doing the work previously done by an outside team of expats is one of her proudest achievements.

Since graduating, Patti has worked in typical Mine Technical Services roles, such as surveying, drill and blast and engineering supervisor but also in operational roles such as frontline supervisor, human resources, projects, and corporate development. She has held several leadership roles throughout her career and today, she is the Director of Technical Services for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations.

Throughout her career, Patti has often been the only woman at the table, in the mine site and sometimes, even in the building. This sometimes proved challenging as when she first started in the industry, she felt like she constantly had to prove herself, even when working side by side with a man of similar experience.

In the past five years, however, Patti has seen a major shift in the industry: there are now more women at the table and in the mines, and culture has been changing to be more accepting of equity and inclusion. Patti believes that encouraging the mining industry and STEM as careers, as well as providing role models, is important so that young women and girls can picture themselves doing amazing and creative things, and become leaders in their communities. Through her involvement with the Sudbury CIM Branch and the local Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) chapter, Patti actively participates in the change in culture that allows more women to work comfortably in the mining industry, acting as a role model for the next generation of mining professionals.

The currently leadership team at Vale Base Metals North Atlantic Operations is 44% women. Patti wants to keep these doors open for the women coming behind her and to see the next generation of women mining professionals working at all levels and all types of roles within the industry.

Outside of work, Patti enjoys spending time with her family. Her husband also works at Vale and together they encourage their children to learn, explore and respect the world around them. The family stays active, participating in sports such as swimming, camping, biking, ultimate frisbee or hiking.