My proudness is to look at a woman like Isabelle WABETE. She is a woman and the President of a company. We can see us in her and it motivates us as women to learn, keep going and fully assume our positions with or without responsabilities.
Seyrane BELIOT is Mining operation Manager at the site of Poya where there are actually quite a few women. As such, Elodie, Mine supervisor or Laura or Geological Engineer.
Seyrane shared an adventurous and encouraging journey for women in New Caledonia and elsewhere.
With a Geoscience degree (DEUST, 2 years after high school), Seyrane began her career at SMSP as a Geological Technician in Kouaoua and Nakety. She then worked for a research office where she trained to different methods and tools.
Then, she is recruited by SLN to work on Thio’s site with hired extracting companies (in french called « tâcheron », non pejorative meaning, they only do extracting and driving ore back to seashore most of the time) while this configuration is new to the mining world. This experience will be an asset afterwards. It was therefore new and a challenge to build working relationships and operate effectively.
The young woman leads her professional and family life together. Mother of 3 children, her husband is selected to beneficiate from governmental program to go back studying in France. As a family, they decide to leave all together. She interrupted her carreer during 2 and a half year. A necessary and rewarding break as she said herself.
Seyrane returned to the NMC in 2017, 2 1/2 years later, on the Kouaoua Center and on Poya at the end of 2019.
All these changes in his career, Seyrane considers them as enriching and necessary. They allowed her to grow professionally and to leave her comfort zone. She, who never thought of working in the Mine, was able to seize the opportunities and make the good meetings as she would like to point out: Sarah MANZANARES, Miguel ATE, Murielle WABEALO and many others. Both women and men made her want to continue in the Mine.
“My greatest pride are those small changes that lead to big changes. As such, we’ve seen operators who would never wear their PPE before starting to have them every day now. It means that safety break, raising awareness and talks have been useful. The fact that wearing PPE becomes a reflex, means our safety company culture grows up. And since operators are the core of the Mine, without them we are useless, it also means that our operators grow up as mining professional as well, with the company.”
“We can say whatever we want, it’s 21st century, still it’s a very masculine world. We often have to take upon ourselves. Now grown up and with experience,I’ve more confidence and calm while dealing with this kind of situation. First I observe, I make communication easy and I share as much as possible. I always think that front of me, men who could have inappropriate words, also have mothers, sisters, daughters and such. The goal is to understand and understand each other and to forward together.”
