Guthrie named first female MCA chair

Toro Energy chief executive Vanessa Guthrie has been elected the first female chair of the Minerals Council of Australia.

Dr Guthrie will be the first woman to chair the mining industry representative body in its 40-year history.

Outgoing chair Andrew Michelmore said Dr Guthrie had wide experience in the resources sector, deep knowledge of public policy and community engagement and would be an outstanding advocate for the sector.

Dr Guthrie paid tribute to the leadership provided by Mr Michelmore during a period of sharply lower commodity prices.

"Andrew has led the MCA during an extremely volatile and challenging period,” she said.

“Like the sector it represents, the MCA has refocused its efforts on core priority issues and delivered more with less.

“The reality is that a diversified mining industry is more important to the Australian economy than ever.

“The dividend of the mining investment boom is a much larger mining industry.”