BHP BHP Group Limited

By Scott Patterson 

LONDON -- BHP Billiton Ltd. said Thursday that women will account for half of its workforce by 2025, a target that would mark a dramatic restructuring of the sprawling mining company in a historically male-dominated industry.

In an industry long associated with dust-covered men digging deep underground, cultivating a more diverse workforce "is key to our future success," BHP Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie said at the Anglo-Australian miner's annual general meeting here.

BHP's workforce now is just 17% women. And without the new initiative, it would take BHP 30 years just to get to a 30% female workforce, Mr. Mackenzie said. The company has about 65,000 employees and contractors around the world, its annual report says.

Mr. Mackenzie said that while the goal is "aspirational," it is "ambitious and challenging and will deliver a major step for our organization."

At the board level, female leadership at miners is a rarity. Women accounted for just 9% of board membership at the top 30 mining and metals companies by market capitalization, according to an Ernst & Young report released Monday. "Women are a key component of the economy and an untapped resource in the mining sector," said Miguel Zweig, leader of Ernst & Young's global mining and metals sector. BHP currently has three women on its 12-member board.

At the executive level, women are also a rarity in the mining industry. Cynthia Carroll, who broke through the male-dominated mining ranks to lead Anglo-American PLC, stepped down in 2012 after failing to meet pressure from investors to rein in costs and reduce dependence on South Africa, where it owns big iron-ore, coal and platinum businesses. She was replaced by Mark Cutifani.

Write to Scott Patterson at scott.patterson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 20, 2016 13:39 ET (17:39 GMT)

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