Hélène Timpano
So, if there’s not a woman at the top of the organization you’re eyeing, well, you be it. You strive for that. Then open the door for the people that come after you. Being courageous and willing to take that risk is probably the best advice that women can take on.
Brittany Keenan
Welcome to Leading Women in Mining. I’m Brittany Keenan, an Assurance partner at EY. And today we have with us Hélène Timpano of Centerra. She’s their Executive Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development. Thank you for joining us today, Hélène.
Hélène Timpano
Thanks for having me.
Brittany Keenan
I wanted to get right into it. First question for you. I know you didn’t start your career in the mining industry. Can you walk us through maybe a bit of your journey as to how you got into the industry?
Hélène Timpano
Yeah, absolutely. You’re right, I landed in mining a bit by accident, and it’s been a really rewarding career. But when I first started in university, I was really focused on keeping all of my doors open. And so I chose to pursue a degree in engineering and in business. And that was a great way to get a really solid technical background, but also to think about the commercial aspect, and I always knew I might like to bring those two together when I graduated and started my career. And so when I did graduate, I started working at Bain & Company, a consulting firm, and that was a very formative experience. It gave me great experience learning how to communicate with clients, work as a team, and lots of focus on problem solving and analysis, which I really enjoyed.
Brittany Keenan
Oh, that’s fantastic. So then how did you transfer those skills from consulting into mining?
Hélène Timpano
In consulting, I spent a lot of my years there working in the industrials area, and so what I found was that a lot of the work was in looking at performance improvement opportunities. And even though the clients would be different and the industries would vary, there was always that repetition of the theme of really looking for the opportunities to drive performance, but then also find a way to make it connect with the workforce so that you could actually effect those changes.
And so, when one of my former colleagues from a consulting firm invited me to join him in industry, I thought about it quite seriously because it was going to be an opportunity to do that performance improvement-type role with someone that I knew and that I liked working with, and it just so happened to be in mining.
Brittany Keenan
That’s fantastic. And so then when you got to the mining industry, what was it about mining that surprised you? Maybe from what you had expected?
Hélène Timpano
I think in mining what surprised me most was the way that the workforce really needs to interact with the site and understanding the variability just of what the day-to-day looks like. If I think back to some of my other experience in manufacturing, you’re fine-tuning things in very small increments, and you’re looking to shave pennies off the dollar.
Whereas in mining you can have such significant changes, whether it be geotechnical factors that start to affect the situation on the ground or even cost inflation factors or geopolitical factors. You can’t control where the mine is, and so you are somewhat exposed to those types of things. And it just changed the way that I had to think about what performance improvement really meant and be flexible and nimble to make sure that we could be course-correcting while still being on that quest to look at how we could improve the overall performance of the operation.
Brittany Keenan
Very cool. And as a woman in mining, what have you found to be the most rewarding? Or maybe challenging about being in the industry as a woman?
Hélène Timpano
I have to say that in the early years of my career, I mean, even thinking back to university, I was oftentimes in the very significant minority being a woman in engineering and even to some extent in business, and that even continued into consulting. But it became most apparent in mining. And, in the early stages of my career, I noticed it but probably wasn’t so focused on it.
But, as I’ve evolved, unfortunately, we just don’t see so many women in the more senior ranks in mining companies, and that’s changing, but it can feel a bit lonely sometimes. I think, though, having had the benefit of really growing my career and growing up in the industry, I feel like it doesn’t really matter if you’re a woman in mining.
You just have to be good at what you do. You have to be committed to it. Build the right team, focus on results. And so, I think that’s been a nice counterbalance, just giving me the confidence to know that I can do a good job here.
Brittany Keenan
And what skills do you think you’ve developed in the industry that have helped you be good at what you do, and what is it that you think you bring to the executive group?
Hélène Timpano
I think that going back to those formative experiences that I had as a consultant, it’s great to be able to do the analysis; that is obviously really important. But you also need to be able to communicate that which you’ve learned from your analysis and be able to have people take notice, and, oftentimes, change what they’re doing, as a result.
And so those three core skills of the problem solving and analysis, communication and teamwork have been really foundational for me. And I think those were skills I could have taken into any industry. But I found that there’s a real need to be able to connect things happening on the ground level, at the mine level, with what the corporation actually wants and needs.
And sometimes, if you’re not tuned into, “OK, how are people receiving the information? How are we working together so that we’re making sure we get all the diverse perspectives and we’re not forgetting about any aspects?” – sometimes that can go a little bit unnoticed or underappreciated. And I feel like that’s where I really shine: is just taking that big-picture view and bringing it all together.
Brittany Keenan
That’s fantastic. And one thing I have seen a lot of or have questions about is that difference between what happens at the site level and at the operating level vs. in the corporate board-level side of mining. What have you seen as key challenges or roles you’ve played in trying to bring those two together? You’ve mentioned some.
Hélène Timpano
Yeah, I mean, I haven’t worked at a mine site, and I think that, all things considered, that is an experience that would be so valuable to have had. But knowing that I don’t have that experience, I made it really important for me to connect with the people who do live that reality every day, whether it be site visits, just staying in contact after we make that first connection and understanding the things that they’re grappling with.
And it can be so dynamic. The timeframe that the folks at the site are thinking about, it’s, you know, the hourly or the shift level or maybe, maximum, how today is shaping up. And meanwhile, in the corporate office, we’re thinking about how is the year coming together, what’s the next three years bringing?
How about even longer-term after that? So just being aware of that different dynamic and the degree of urgency and more short-term pressure that exists in one place vs. the other has been really important to keep in mind to understand why we might be thinking about things from different perspectives.
Brittany Keenan
That’s so true. And, as you look, especially in your role with strategy and corporate development, it is a lot of that long-term thinking and “what’s next?” What do you see as some of the key challenges for the industry going forward or, really, some of the opportunities as well?
Hélène Timpano
Well, I think that increasingly in mining we’re seeing a lot of competition for a fairly limited set of assets, especially when you start to layer on certain companies will have, for example, a jurisdictional focus and some jurisdictions just wouldn’t be in scope for them. So that will narrow the list. And if you think about quality projects, and the fact that we’re not seeing as many quality projects coming into the pipeline, just given some of the dynamics and how financing has been flowing into the industry in the last number of years.
And so, I guess, in a nutshell, we’re seeing it as quite fiercely competitive. And it’s just so important for us to remain disciplined, really doing thorough diligence and looking for those opportunities where maybe we can bring something different than another prospective buyer might so that we can exploit that to our advantage and find a win-win solution.
Brittany Keenan
That’s great. And maybe circling back, you mentioned that your background is in what we call STEM. Do you think that there is an opportunity for us to start getting mining more into the STEM background? I know STEM – I think kids know these days it’s an important field. How do you think mining can play into that?
Hélène Timpano
It’s interesting because I think mining absolutely ticks all, nearly all, of the letters in STEM. But we are as an industry suffering from some negative perceptions, perhaps from the environmental lens, from people who don’t really understand what mining entails, even maybe some concerns about “what does it mean to work in a mining company from a health and safety perspective?”
And I think, being in the industry, when you start to dig into that, it’s tremendously impressive, actually, what a standard we hold ourselves to. But I just don’t think that’s the headline message for people when they think about mining. I mean, I think my kids, even, I don’t think that they fully understand exactly what I do.
And so I’m trying to do the best I can at the home level and educate them. And going into schools and, you know, talking to the classes and such. But that’s never going to be enough. I think as an industry, we need to keep promoting the excellent work that we’re doing. The high rigor that we put into maintaining those standards, how mining in communities can really unlock economic potential.
And those are the things that will help us get credit as a viable place to deploy those STEM skills.
Brittany Keenan
You mentioned earlier that you had some individuals you knew in the industry who sort of led you to the industry. What role do you think that plays to bringing more people into the industry, or do you want to tell us more about your experience with how you worked with that individual?
Hélène Timpano
Sure, absolutely. Like I said, it was a bit of a happy accident to end up in the industry. But having that person connect me with other people to speak to, to learn about “what does it mean to work in this space? What can I expect? Am I going to be traveling all around the world all the time? What types of challenges might I face?” That really helped me get comfortable with what it meant to work in mining. And unfortunately, it isn’t such a huge industry. I didn’t really know anyone who worked in mining until I personally started to think about getting involved. And so, I think it is important for us to do what we can, again, from a PR perspective, at the industry level, to just make it on the radar for people to at least know that it’s an important sector.
In North America, especially, it’s a real contributor from an economic perspective, and so that will then fuel people to take interest and say, “OK, well, this is a place that might have a job for me one day. I’m going to learn more about it”. And that way people can do a bit of their own discovery, and it doesn’t have to be as much of a push for us wanting to have people learn about the industry, but rather more of a pull of a real, genuine interest of people wanting to learn more.
Brittany Keenan
So true. I think some of that, you know, learning more about it so that people are interested because I think if people knew more about mining, a lot of more people would think about a career in the industry.
Hélène Timpano
Yeah, definitely. It’s so rewarding. You can take it anywhere. You can have an international career where you’re getting opportunity to work all around the world with different cultures. You can work in so many different functions in mining. I think you can work at the site level. And that’s a totally different experience than if you’re having a corporate-level experience.
So, you could build a very rich career through your entire working years, just in the industry. And I’m just not sure everyone really appreciates that.
Brittany Keenan
We all know that mentoring is such an important aspect of growing people in their careers, and I know I certainly have benefited from mentoring over the years. Can you tell us about mentors in your life and how that’s impacted you?
Hélène Timpano
One person that I have to give a lot of credit to is the individual who brought me into mining in the first place and opened my eyes to what a career in the industry could be. And I’m lucky enough to call that person my boss now. So that’s been a really nice and lasting working relationship. We make a really good team.
One of the women that I worked with when I was in consulting really opened my eyes to what it meant to be a working mother and how that could all fit from a life balance perspective. And so it was great to hear more about that.
I have a lot of men who give me good guidance on what it means to be yourself. And just seeing that in a male-dominated industry, it doesn’t mean that all the men are the same. So, then the women don’t also need to be like the men. You know, you can just be yourself, and so I think that that’s a really important piece of advice that I’ve hung onto.
And, even learning from the people who have been on my teams and just the degree of energy that they bring to the role, the way that they’re weaving in some of the new ways of thinking, into how they attack their daily life.
I think if you’re open for feedback and coaching, you can pretty much find it anywhere.
Brittany Keenan
That’s great. And I wanted to ask you about mentoring a bit more. We’ve spoken about how it’s important, but for you, are you mentoring others or how do you see that as an important aspect of the industry?
Hélène Timpano
I’m always really honored if somebody asks me officially to be a mentor. And as much as possible, I try to give my time, even if it’s just a few meetings and imparting some of the things that I’ve learned. Absolutely, I want to pay it forward. And I try to really bring it into the way I interact with my team and thinking about where there are development areas, trying to get them ready for the next role and work myself out of a job.
That’s really the approach that I like to take, because I I’ve been so lucky to have various people looking out for me in that way. And so the least that I can do is to do the same for the people that follow me.
Brittany Keenan
And for you, what is maybe one thing that if you were to say to someone, I’m thinking about a career in mining, maybe is there one thing you would tell them this is the reason it’s a great opportunity?
Hélène Timpano
I think it’s a place where you could just build a lifelong career and you’ll never get bored. I got advice once that, the person told me “the one thing you want to watch out for in your career is just to never get bored”. And I think mining, you’ll never be there, so that’s a really big selling feature, absolutely.
Brittany Keenan
As we look forward to the next five years, what are some of the trends you see in the mining industry?
Hélène Timpano
I think one trend that will continue, it’s definitely on the forefront already, is being a good corporate citizen in mining and thinking about our role in upholding the three parts of ESG. That’s going to be a continuing theme.
Another thing that’s important to bear in mind is that we have a workforce that continues to age and is approaching retirement. The one thing I’ve noticed in mining is that people tend to want to hang on and stay in the industry even into their retirement years, but at some point, that just won’t be sustainable anymore. And so, I think there may be a skill shortage, and it’s on us to start to develop more interest in bringing people into the sector.
Brittany Keenan
And as we look forward to the future generation, what do you see as something that is needed to maybe get that next generation of women working in mining to the level of executive that you are?
Hélène Timpano
I think that having a greater presence in those senior ranks is never going to hurt, but I think also just normalizing that you don’t need to necessarily be in good company with huge numbers to be comfortable and successful. And being a trailblazer can be rewarding in its own right. So, if there’s not a woman at the top of the organization you’re eyeing, well, you be it. You strive for that. Then open the door for the people that come after you.
Being courageous and willing to take that risk is probably the best advice that women can take on.
Brittany Keenan
I love that! Now that you been working in the industry for so long, if you could go back and tell your younger self some advice, what would it be?
Hélène Timpano
Sure, this is advice for men, women, for everybody. I think those moments of insecurity that everybody experiences and, in my case, perhaps were partially fueled by feeling lonely, only woman in the room, that kind of stuff. No one else is noticing that. So, try to just get outside of your own head, take the bigger-picture perspective and be confident in the value that you’re adding.
That would have been a really good perspective to have had. Benefit of hindsight. I know it now, and I share that with everyone. Just really be confident of what you’re bringing to the company, and it’s being noticed, I’m sure.
Brittany Keenan
Hélène, thank you so much for joining us today. It’s been really insightful speaking with you, and I’m sure everyone will benefit from all your wisdom. Thank you so much.
Hélène Timpano
Thanks so much for having me. It’s been really great.
