Carving a Path for Women in Mining: Meet Community Relations Manager Angélica Calderón
Angélica Calderón has been breaking ground in the mining industry for nearly 40 years.
Currently serving as Calibre’s Community Relations Manager in Nicaragua, based at the Borosi Gold Mine, Angélica is on the frontlines of upholding Calibre’s commitment to operate respectfully in host communities and to engage stakeholders, including rural and Indigenous communities in Nicaragua.
Within Calibre and the local community, Angélica’s talent and reputation are well-known. Recently she was also recognized internationally with the prestigious Mujeres de Oro (Women of Gold) award from Women in Mining Central America. Presented at the PDAC 2024 Central America and Caribbean Day March 3, the award celebrates outstanding contributions of Central American and Caribbean women to the mining industry.
Calibre Community Relations Manager Angélica Calderón (third from right) receives her Mujeres de Oro (Women of Gold) award March 3 at PDAC 2024, for her outstanding contributions to the mining industry.
A career of firsts for women in mining
With a distinguished career in mining spanning four decades, Angélica definitely fit the bill of “outstanding contributions.” She started in mining in 1984, after completing higher technical studies in geology. Her first role was as a field geologist, collecting and analyzing mineral samples and deposits at Limón Mine (now a Calibre holding).
“I was the first woman there, and it was really hard to work with the miners at the time, because they didn’t accept having a woman around,” she recalls. Over time, she managed to build relationships, and acceptance followed.
With so few role models in the industry at the time, who inspired Angélica to blaze her own trail? “I’d have to say my mom, because she worked outside the home when I was growing up,” she says. “We never had a problem, so when I think of someone who could walk out into the world and do anything … I think of my mom.”
Angélica in the field, visiting local communities in Nicaragua.
Eventually, Angélica transitioned into mineral exploration, where she discovered a passion for working with people. “In exploration, you have to visit properties, talk to people and secure permits,” she says. Her skill at forging connections and working with stakeholders paid off, and she moved into a new role – community relations – in 2005.
She joined Calibre’s Nicaragua team in 2009, helping to implement the Company’s community relations program nationally.
“Angelica has been fundamental to our success in Nicaragua,” says Petri Salopera, Calibre’s Senior Vice-President of Sustainability. “Community relations is all about building trust, and having people like her, who are capable of putting themselves in the shoes of the community – serving as a bridge between the community and company – is a formula for success.”
He’s not surprised that Angélica was singled out for a Women in Mining award, he adds: “It’s difficult to imagine a woman with similar experience in Central America or within the mining industry, and I'm really proud to have her on our team.”
Calibre Community Relations Manager Angélica Calderón (second from left) and Senior Vice-President of Sustainability Petri Salopera (to her right) tour Borosi Mine, on the north-Caribbean side of Nicaragua, during construction.
How Calibre supports women in mining
Salopera’s appreciation extends to many other female Calibre team members who play key roles in the Company’s success. As examples, he points to Environmental Senior Manager Alejandra Madriz, Senior Manager of Social Performance & Sustainability Planning Luz Habed, and Communications Manager Anne Pérez Rivera.
“We have very talented women within our organization, and I’m personally very proud that in the Department of Sustainability, we have been able to promote many of them to very crucial positions,” he says. “They exemplify the many opportunities for women in our company, and there is no limit for them to grow and continue developing their careers with Calibre.”
Calibre is working to recruit more women to roles in the mining industry worldwide – including heavy truck drivers.
In Nicaragua, Calibre is also working to bring more women into the mining industry, and the company. This is exemplified by a recent heavy-truck training course hosted at the Borosi mine, for which the Company actively recruited women. Six of the course participants were women; three of whom now work for the Company.
While these numbers may seem small, they represent significant progress: “Especially in rural areas, it’s uncommon to see a woman driving a big truck. So to see them happy and succeeding in this type of role is great,” says Angélica.
In cooperation with Nicaragua’s Technical Education and Vocational Training Institute (INATEC), Calibre helped 43 women in Riscos de Oro, near the Borosi Mine, receive bakery and confectionery training.
Beyond mining, Calibre sponsors and provides a variety of livelihood opportunities and programs for women in its host countries and communities. For instance: in alliance with Nicaragua’s Technical Education and Vocational Training Institute (INATEC), the Company recently helped 43 women in Riscos de Oro, near Borosi, receive bakery and confectionery training.
In communities around the Pavon Gold Mine, Calibre sponsored a program to provide improved stoves in 120 households, reducing indoor smoke. “In Nicaragua, women are the pillar of the family, and this is a game-changer for family health,” says Salopera. “And there is an environmental dimension because the new stoves require much less firewood.”
Participants of a Calibre-sponsored entrepreneurship program for women, near the Pavon Mine in Nicaragua, receive technical assistance and microloans for small ventures.
Also near Pavon Mine, Calibre partnered with the Center for an Understanding with Nature (CEN) and the Pioneer Women of the Mountains Network in 2020 to found an ongoing entrepreneurship program for women in local communities. In 2022, 70 businesswomen received technical assistance for developing business plans, thanks to the program, and earned microloans to initiate or consolidate small ventures.
Inspiring the next generation of female miners
Although there are more women today than ever before in Nicaragua’s mining industry, Angélica remains part of a small minority. But she has leveraged her trailblazer status to become a role model herself, in hopes of changing this.
In 1980, she joined the Geologists’ Association of Nicaragua. “At the beginning, there were around 10 female members, and now we have more than 100,” she says. In the 2000s, she worked with the association to help recruit students, particularly young women, to the profession: “We have a lot of women in geology overall now, and I think it’s because they saw we could do that.”
Continuing this trajectory, Angélica was proud to take the stage with eight others to accept her Women of Gold award March 3 in Toronto. “It’s an honour for me, but also for all women who work in the mining industry in Nicaragua,” she says. “I hope it will inspire other young people to work in mining, especially women. I believe women are changing the mining industry, so it’s important to continue calling women to become miners.”
Women make up around 16% of those employed in Nicaragua’s mining industry – a number that mentors like Angélica Calderón are hoping to increase.
She remains committed to proving that women belong in the industry, and dispelling the myth that mining is somehow incompatible with family life. “Look at me: I’m a miner – I have two kids. You can be a miner, and you can be a mom and a woman,” says Angélica.
But more importantly, Angélica wants other women to follow their career dreams: “If you like your job, you’ll never feel like you’re working.”