TORONTO, June 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is excited to announce the launch of its Gender Diversity and Inclusion Guidance. The Guidance will assist junior exploration and mining companies improve their gender diversity and inclusion in the workplace and community setting.  

“There is often an assumption that improving gender diversity and inclusion is a resource intensive pursuit. This guidance document challenges that assumption and demonstrates how small actions can have a tremendous impact on diversity and inclusion,” says PDAC Executive Director Lisa McDonald.

Improving gender diversity in Canada’s minerals industry is one of PDAC’s top strategic priorities. The Guidance provides information and tools for implementing gender diversity and inclusion strategies that can be used for cultivating more inclusive and diverse environments within companies and the communities that companies engage with and operate.

While the mineral exploration and mining sector employs around 630,000 individuals in Canada—both directly and indirectly—women comprise just 17% of workers, despite making up 48% of the national workforce.

“Bridging the gender gap in the minerals sector is critical to addressing expected labour shortages, as well as the financial, health and safety challenges, and longevity issues faced under the current industry climate,” says PDAC President Felix Lee.

In a male dominated industry, companies of all sizes can take key actions to alter business practices and processes that address these inequalities.

PDAC’s Diversity & Inclusion Working Group, comprised of 30 industry experts and leaders from 25 different organizations, collaborated on the development of the Gender Diversity and Inclusion Guidance. The Guidance is available as a standalone document on the PDAC website, and will be published as a new chapter in the e3 Plus Social Responsibility Toolkit.

The development of this guidance document, with a specific focus on gender issues, is the first step in PDAC’s commitment to improving the overall performance and practice of diversity and inclusion in the mineral exploration and mining community.

About the PDAC

The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is the leading voice of the mineral exploration and development community. With over 7,500 members around the world, PDAC’s work centres on supporting a competitive, responsible mineral sector. PDAC is known worldwide for its annual PDAC Convention—the premier international event for the industry—that has attracted over 25,000 people from 135 countries in recent years and will next be held March 1-4, 2020 in Toronto. Please visit www.pdac.ca.

Media contact 
Kristy Kenny
1-416-807-8214 
kkenny@pdac.ca

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