Celebrating SuXXess: Yelda Temizci

The skills needed in the mining industry today have evolved in recent decades. With an increased use of technology and software, and advancement in processes, the gender balance in mining has been positively impacted, providing more broad opportunities to both males and females alike.

At Eldorado, we are proud to promote diversity at all levels of the organization. We believe diverse teams create better thought processes, which lead to better outcomes. Casting our net wider to access the best possible talent pool helps us maintain a skilled and qualified workforce.

In today’s post, we speak with Yelda Temizci, a truck operator at Kışladağ, Eldorado’s open pit gold mine in western Turkey. Yelda is Eldorado’s first female CAT Truck driver and is Turkey’s first female rock truck operator.

Yelda Temizci leaning against a CAT truck
Did you know? This truck weighs over 103 tonnes when it is empty, and measures over 6m wide, 5.5m tall, and 11m in length!

Name: Yelda Temizci

Job title:

Cat Truck Operator at Kışladağ

Number of years with Eldorado/ subsidiary:

11 years

Where are you from?

Artvin, a city in northeastern Turkey

Where do you live now?

Uşak, which is the city nearest to Eldorado’s Kışladağ Gold mine is located.

What attracted you to the mining industry?

Growing up, I was always exposed to the mining industry. My father worked in mining and many of my relatives were copper miners.

When looking for a job, I knew that this career path would offer meaningful employment, although, as a woman, it was certainly not traditional work.

Have you had any positive mentors in mining? If so, who?

My father and relatives always spoke about their jobs in mining with excitement. They were very hard-working and generous in sharing their ideas and thoughts with me.

Although I am not a geologist or mining engineer, I really enjoy my job in mining and am proud to carry on the family tradition.

What does the industry need, in your opinion, to attract more women to mining?

Women have been, and still are, under-represented in the mining industry. If industry could get to the point where people are assessed based on merit, skills and attributes alone rather than gender, it would help develop a more diverse workforce.

Men and women alike are strong, confident and driven.  If given the opportunity, and the support throughout their career, women have the opportunity to be just as successful as men in the industry.

Where do you hope to see the industry in the next 5-10 years?

Turkey is a very prosperous mining jurisdiction. I have been employed by Tüprag, Eldorado Gold’s Turkish subsidiary, for more than ten years, and they have contributed enormously to the mining industry, especially in bringing leading environmental and occupational health and safety practices to Turkey.

Tüprag is committed to being a socially responsible company and helps to increase the standard of living and improve the quality of life in the regions and communities surrounding our mines.

I hope to see more mines operating with the same principles as Tüprag and Eldorado. With this, I believe we can close the gap between the community and industry and work together to improve the mining industry.

Yelda Temizci with Mehmet Yilmaz, Chairman of B.O.D., Tüprag, Funda Kocabıyık, Governor of Uşak, in front of a CAT truck.
(L-R) Mehmet Yilmaz, Chairman of B.O.D., Tüprag, Funda Kocabıyık, Governor of Uşak, and Yelda Temizci.

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would that be?

If I consider all the experiences I have had, I would say, “You won’t know what you can do unless you have the courage to try it.”

For the young women of today, and generations to come, I would encourage them to be bold, and take on the opportunities.

In case you missed our previous other Celebrating SuXXess posts, you can find them here:

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