Meet the Leader: Helen Gibson, VP Underground Soft Rock Australasia, Komatsu

The AusIMM Bulletin sat down with Helen Gibson MAusIMM to discuss her career, including how her background in human resources led to a passion for mining and a leadership role at Komatsu.

Helen shares her excitement about driving innovation in underground mining automation, her commitment to sustainability and ESG, and her vision for fostering an inclusive culture in the sector.

Can you please tell us a little bit about your professional background — what drew you to a career in the resources sector?

I joined Komatsu as a Human Resources Manager in 2011. Until then, I knew nothing about the resources sector or mining and how it contributes to society. I often joke that I am in my second career having trained professionally in HR before stumbling across this incredible industry that I’m now in love with – to the extent that I opted to study part-time for a Master’s in Mining Engineering in 2020. 

"I’m proud to be part of this industry and, even though I joined late, I know that I will finish my career here."

What excites you most about stepping into your current role for Komatsu in Australia?

Having spent the last three years in a hugely rewarding role in India, the reason I accepted this role in Australia was because I felt I could make a difference to our customers and our people here, especially at a time when the coal mining industry is facing many challenges.

Although it might sound cliched, making a difference is what gets me out of bed in the morning. I’m passionate about setting high standards, making continuous forward progress to close gaps each day, and moving with purposeful pace. As an organisation we can’t stand still, we have to adapt and evolve to meet market and customers’ needs and to deliver solutions efficiently. We’re genuinely transforming the way we do things so that we can partner with customers well into the next few decades and that’s exciting to me.

How do you envision Komatsu’s role evolving within the Australian mining landscape over the next five years?

The impact of global geopolitics presents opportunities for us to support customers differently. There is a lot of change to respond to and we need to do everything we can to anticipate customers’ needs through this period. This changes how we deliver equipment and services; currently we’re working to reduce engineering complexity in our products and simplify our business so that we can deliver new equipment, rebuilds, parts and services to customers at the pace the industry demands, with unmatched velocity.

We’re absolutely committed to coal but we’re also expanding into other areas, for example, our global hard rock portfolio is growing and starting to bring products into Australia. 

What opportunities do you see for Komatsu to lead in automation or technology innovation, especially in underground mining?

I’m probably the most passionate about automation in underground mining as this was the third-year thesis for my Master’s in Mining Engineering. We have led the way in longwall automation for many years but we need more focus on entry development and room and pillar mining.

At a global level, our underground business is accelerating our efforts in this area to make the miners’ work easier and safer, especially as deposits become harder to mine. With Australia being the most advanced market for adoption of underground technology, it’s likely that we will work with customers here on some of those trials.

What role do you see Komatsu’s sustainability and ESG commitments playing in the organisation’s future strategy?

The mining industry must continue to deliver the resources the world needs, but how we deliver them is just as important. For us, that means designing and supporting equipment that reduces environmental impact, supporting communities where we work, and looking at how we, as an OEM, can be more sustainable in manufacturing and rebuilding equipment.

Can you share your leadership perspectives on how we can embed the right cultural settings in our sector to ensure everyone feels safe, valued and included?

I’d love to get to a place where this topic becomes redundant and we just get on with our day jobs. It has to start with leadership – we should see performance and contribution before anything else, and the great thing is that we can each do this every day. Just start! I have had great leadership around me over the years who have placed trust in my abilities above anything else and I’m seeing more of it today in Komatsu. We are far from perfect and I do still witness embedded biases but with more diverse leadership at the top, it naturally perpetuates inclusion and diversity.