OH4660/9: Interview with Bronwyn Barnes in 2022 by Julia Kay Wallis

Summary

Bronwyn Barnes has worked in the WA mining sector as a director and executive, after starting out with her husband in the North-West following her graduation from university. She has received the Outstanding Woman in Resources Award from the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA, and the Exceptional Women in Australian Resources Award, and was inducted into the WA Women's Hall of Fame in 2019. In this interview, Bronwyn discusses starting out in the North-West, including her husband's work on the Burrup Peninsula project; studying for her Graduate Diploma of Business and her first job after graduation; her experiences with early parenthood in the workplace in the 1980s and 1990s; working with Andrew Forrest on the Anaconda Nickel project, as her start in the resources industry; working in internal communications on the Bayu-Undan project, leading to a Disney Channel documentary; working with Western Mining and the eventual takeover by BHP; her first board position at Graynic Metals, particularly working in Cuba and Central and South America; her experience in executive and board roles in the mining industry in WA; her experience with corporate FIFO, and the lack of scheduling; international relationships through mining and the notion of Perth as an international headquarters for mining companies; and the lack of diversity in the mining industry in Australia.