Meet Aurora – A Rockstar
In celebration of female leadership on International Women’s Day, we talked with Amerigo Resources CEO Aurora Davidson, who will celebrate 20 years with the company in 2023, about her career in copper mining. Hired as the company’s first female CFO, she was named CEO in December 2019.
Davidson explains, “Amerigo Resources (TSX:ARG and OTCQX:ARREF) has a simple business model with very predictive cashflow. The company produces copper in a unique way by processing fresh and historic tailings (the waste material in the mine). Under its strategic relationship with Chilean-state owned copper miner Codelco, the largest copper miner in the world, Amerigo produces over 60 million pounds of copper a year. It is the only copper producer in the world fully focused on processing tailings on such a large scale.”
The rise in copper prices since 2020 has transformed Amerigo’s fortunes, posting record financial results in February 2021 and raising its dividend by 50%. And, it looks to be another banner year in 2022.
Davidson who grew up in Mexico City, is the eldest of four siblings. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in business and finance, she left for Canada and entered the mining industry where she took a job as a controller for a exploration company based in Peru.
ADVICE SHE WOULD GIVE TO HER YOUNGER SELF (aka advice to young girls)
Focus on the essentials, and avoid distractions. I know it’s easy to get distracted but if you look for clarity of message, you will understand what you need to accomplish your goals.
In the following years , while completing her CPA designation, she worked in the high tech sector where her last position was as VP of Finance at a software company where she headed up their exit. As the ink dried on the contract, the auditor on the deal, PriceWaterhouseCoopers reached out to her to see if she was interested in a CFO position with a newly formed mining client. Davidson remained in that role until she was named CEO in 2019.
No matter how you look at it, Davidson is an anomaly which, she gladly embraces. as a female CEO in the overwhelmingly male-dominated world of metals. According to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Women comprise a paltry share of top executives at global metals and mining companies, holding just 11.1% of C-suite positions. (Of all the people working in mining, women comprise anywhere from 8-17%.[1])
Most explain this gender gap as unconscious gender bias, a lack of recruiting and negative perceptions of women working in a male-dominated industry. Yet, despite these barriers, women continue to build a path forward in metals and mining attracted by the variety of work it offers, the opportunities for professional advancement and the competitive renumeration.
Her advice to women who aspire to the C-suite is as straightforward as she is, “be yourself. Don’t try to emulate anyone and be anyone other than who you are. Too many women associate leadership with masculine traits such as aggressiveness or assertiveness but this isn’t the case. To be taken seriously, you have to stick to the one thing that carries you so stick to your gut and be you. If we as women are more respectful of who we are, we won’t box ourselves into the notions of what we think leaders should be.”
Sources:
[1] Penny Bamber, Vivian Couto, and Karina Fernandez-Stark, “Industry 4.0 in developing countries: The mine of the future and the role of women,” World Bank, January 28, 2019, worldbank.org.