The NSW Mining Annual Parliamentary Dinner celebrates the hard-working people that power our industry. Held at Parliament, guests at the dinner include MPs, Ministers and government representatives, and leaders from the NSW mining industry. At the 2024 Dinner which took place last week, on Thursday 24 October 2024 our Chairperson, Stef Loader, was bestowed with the honour of the Outstanding Contribution to NSW Mining Award.

This award recognises an individual that has demonstrated outstanding leadership and performance over a sustained period, promoting, protecting and serving the industry through their career.

Since its inception, this award has become one of the highest honours the NSW mining industry bestows upon one of its own.

Stef was appointed chairperson of Port Waratah Coal Services in 2020 and she has been part of the natural resources and mining value chain for three decades. Working across four continents, and in seven countries, from exploration to project development to operations, sales and marketing through to her current focus on governance.

She is an accomplished leader who has a had a career of firsts.  

Starting as a Project and Exploration Geologist at Rio Tinto in 1994, Stef was part of discovery team for Khanong copper deposit at Sepon in Laos and designed the first Rio Tinto Global Drilling Data Model.

Identified as a future leader, Stef worked in London with Rio Tinto’s CEO and ExCo where she provided technical and strategic advice, and implemented the first structured framework for prioritisation of global exploration expenditure.

She led the Order of Magnitude Study and subsequent Pre-feasibility study for the development of the Bunder diamond mine in central India and achieved the first Mining Lease approved for a non-Indian company for diamonds in 2011.

In 2012, Stef was made Managing Director of Northparkes Mines in the Central West of NSW, being  the first woman to led a mining business for Rio Tinto in NSW,  where she improved safety performance and achieved operating costs savings during the transition of the mine to new owners. In 2014, Stef became the first woman to Chair the NSW Minerals Council, a role she served in for two and a half years with distinction.

Since departing her executive role in 2017 Stef has gone onto to build an impressive portfolio of non-executive roles including the Forestry Corporation of NSW, Sunrise Energy Metals, and as the Chair of Port Waratah Coal Services. She also supports the region of Central West NSW on the Boards of CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes and Orange360.

In her vote of thanks Stef acknowledged and thanked the important people throughout her career who have listened, supported and trusted her as their leader and also sincerely thanked the communities of the Central West of NSW, her adopted home.

 “Regional communities are so important to our Industry. I live in a regional community of the Central West and I want to thank all the people in those communities for welcoming me and adopting me. Our regional communities thrive when our industry thrives.” said Chairperson Stef Loader.

Stef also took a moment to share advice for all the leaders across our Industry; 

“In my career of ‘firsts’ I’ve reflected on how that happened. I’ve learnt that we need to not only develop from within but bring people into the Industry from all sort of walks of life and appoint on potential. Someone took a chance on me and saw potential. Appoint on potential to support diversifying the types of people and thinkers we have in our Industry to solve the challenges of the future.”

Trudie Larnach and Chris Carroll attended the parliamentary Dinner celebrating Stef’s impressive career and contribution with Industry peers. From all of us here at Port Waratah congratulations Stef on your outstanding contribution to the Mining Industry, a very well deserved honour.