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Victor Mine continues to raise the bar in all aspects of mining with the appointment of the first female mining department supervisor at the national and international award winning mine.

One of 27 women working in the Mine Operations department, Cindy Lazarus’ career has progressed steadily at the De Beers open-pit mine in northern Ontario. The Moose Factory resident said she never imagined going to university for, or even working in, mining.

“The people here challenge you and give you the opportunity to grow,” Cindy said. She has been employed at Victor since 2010 working in a variety of roles she is considering further career growth through mine engineering and technology..

Cindy has filled numerous heavy equipment jobs at Victor Mine from operating haul trucks, to dozers and graders. After taking supervisory training at the mine, she covered off her first shift when both of her supervisors were on vacation.

“It was kind of intimidating, but people don’t push you in the wrong way here. They understood I’m competent enough to do this job,” Cindy said. “They see that you’ve been here for a while, and accept that if you’re still here you’re here for a good reason. That’s the attitude of work ethic around here, which I value.”

She said it wasn’t difficult to transition through different roles in the department, and that she valued the support and encouragement she received from supervisors and colleagues.

“It’s cool when you first start with, say, the big haul truck but then you see the other pieces of equipment and your team asks if you’d like to try different things. If you’re interested in doing it, they support you,” she said. “That’s what I like about this place. It gives you the opportunity to learn even though you might not have been on a certain piece of equipment before, it lets you get out of your comfort zone.”

As for working away from home and her family for two weeks at a time, Cindy said it doesn’t bother her and gives her the opportunity to focus on her future.

“I used to come to work and just work, work, work, but now I want to learn new things, experience new people and see how other people think,” she said. “That’s what the experience with De Beers has given me over the past seven years – the chance to grow, to awaken new things in myself.”

Besides, her mining crew and other colleagues at Victor make being away from home easier to accept.

“The people here are your family too. You work with them for two weeks and come back and do it all over again. There are a lot of good people, here.”

At Victor Mine, 17 per cent of De Beers Canada employees are female. At Gahcho Kue Mine, 16% of the employees are female, while the percentage for De Beers Canada as a whole is 20%.

Recently, a second woman at Victor Mine has filled in a supervisor position.