Name: Isabel Penaloza

Job Title and Employer: Metallurgical Engineering Grad Student and Graduate Research Assistant, University of Nevada Reno

Location: Reno, NV  

For National Miners Day, we asked some of our Members a few questions. Here’s what they had to say:

Modern Mining isn’t what most people think of. What would you like people to know about the mining industry or your role in it that they might not know?

Mining is present in our daily lives, without minerals we will not be able to progress as a society. The evolution of the mining industry has been amazing! with time it is turning into a more sustainable, diverse, and people-focused industry, and is important that people recognize that because evolution means progress. The basis will always be education: how are we guiding the new generations toward the idea of “modern mining?” Are we still teaching with the caged canaries (birds) or are we teaching sophisticated technology that now can be controlled from the surface? 

As a part of the Mining Industry, what are you most proud of? 

I am proud to be a Woman in Mining, coming from South America where it wasn’t easy to make my way in a male-dominated industry. Now, I am extremely proud to say that I contribute to the industry that supplies the raw materials for everything that we have in our surroundings such as TV, laptops, cellphones, etc.

Tell us a little about yourself and why you are sharing your “I am Mining” story! 

I am a first-gen professional in the Mining Industry from Ecuador, coming from a small family of banana farmers I grew up knowing the importance of resources and how critical is to take care of them. I am a Miner from an initial background and now I am a Metallurgist in the country of the opportunities. I couldn’t be more happy and proud to be a Woman in Mining and a Latina Woman in Mining. I want to inspire more women and my peers to consider mining as a future career, not only because it’s profitable but also because this world needs more people with great ideas to continue to revolutionize and modernize the way mining is performed. #IAmMining because I found my passion in a nonconventional industry that makes me extremely proud.