Women in Leadership: Rio Tinto Iron Ore

Lucy Stocker and Fern Dyball
General Managers-Business Improvement

Mining Engineer, Mother, Manager and Mentor – building strong relationships is the best professional development.

Lucy Stocker trained as a mining engineer and started her career with Brockman Iron Ore mine in 1996.

She has worked at seven different mines in a range of roles including:

• operating heavy equipment, 
• shot firing,
• mine planning and leading large teams to billion dollar feasibility studies. 

While working at most of Rio Tinto’s iron ore mines, Lucy gained an MBA by distance education. Now she is General Manager of Business Improvement for Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

Lucy is passionate about the people-side of mining, sharing experiences and enjoying work. While studying to become a mining engineer, she had no idea that her chosen career could deliver so many varied opportunities. Promoting the business value delivered through diversity and assisting others to achieve great work life balance through application of flexible work practices is one of the best things about her career so far. 

Fern Dyball 
Fern’s career foundations were laid working in commercial sales, business analysis and then as an operations superintendent with Argyle Diamond Mines. Accepting this ‘non-traditional’ opportunity to lead technical operations on-site, greatly broadened Fern’s skills in both people and resource management, and influenced her approaches to all ensuing roles and projects.

More recently Fern has held:

• senior financial control, commercial management business improvement and project management roles with Hamersley Iron, Rio Tinto Expansion Studies and Rio Tinto Iron Ore,
• leading teams in financial services and sales, 
• driving cost analysis, 
• operations planning, 
• financial modelling and business strategy.

She describes one of her leadership strengths as ‘recognising when and how to ask the ‘dumb’ questions to assist those with the core expertise to solve their own problems and develop their capacity.
Fern is passionate about encouraging diversity in all aspects of business and life. She currently moves between roles as business partner, peer mentor and mother.