People and Places
Meet Claire and Kaitlyn: a Mother-Daughter duo at Line Creek Operations
Diego Cejas, Senior Environmental Specialist, Quebrada Blanca – Port
Gabrielle, Safety Coordinator, Trail Operations
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Meet Claire and Kaitlyn: a Mother-Daughter duo at Line Creek Operations
In this special Mother’s Day edition of People and Places, Connect talks with Claire (above right) and her daughter Kaitlyn (above left), both employees at our Line Creek Operations in British Columbia’s Elk Valley.
When did you start working at Teck, and at which site/office?
Claire (mother): I started working for Teck in June 2019 at Line Creek Operations (LCO).
Kaitlyn (daughter): I started at Teck in February 2021 at Line Creek.
Briefly describe your role
Claire: I drive a haul truck and our drill water truck. The drills require water usually twice a shift to keep dust to a minimum.
Kaitlyn: I am a haul truck driver and light duty loader operator, cleaning up the shovel floors.
What is your favourite part of your job?
Claire: My favourite part of the job is the people I have met through work - I have a great crew! I also love the four days on, four days off schedule for me. I love the outdoors and spending time with my family, and the schedule gives me a great balance in life.
Kaitlyn: My favourite part of my job is getting to run some of the biggest equipment in the world! I also love the four on, four off schedule as it helps me with the balance of work and home life.
What do you like about working with a family member at Teck?
Claire: We are highly family oriented, and I love working alongside my daughter, she is one of my best friends. It’s great sharing the same schedule and always having the same time off. It works well for planning family vacations and just getting together on days off.
Kaitlyn: The best part about working with my mom is how our days off perfectly line up, we are very family oriented, and it allows us to use our time off to do what’s important to us. She’s my best friend!
Our purpose statement and values came from our conversations with people from all across Teck. How do you see yourself in these – and how do our values line up with yours?
Claire: I think the value that I see is that everyone does matter. We have great diversity. Each individual brings something to our team. We all have strengths and some weaknesses but, with the support and encouragement from each other, our strengths have grown to be even stronger.
Kaitlyn: I think my values line up with Teck’s purpose and values in a way that it makes me proud to provide an essential resource, our local steelmaking coal, to the whole world. Growing up in Fernie, it’s so important to me to keep our land clean and safe for our future. It’s the Canadian way!
If you could visit another site/office at Teck, which one would it be and why?
Claire: Highland Valley Copper would be intriguing for me. I’d love to see the comparison between how we mine steelmaking coal here in the Elk Valley and how we mine copper at HVC.
Kaitlyn: If I could visit another site, I would probably choose Greenhills. My grandpa started working at Greenhills when the site opened and stayed there until he retired, and my dad worked there for 15 years. It would be awesome to see the site they got to work at for so long and how different it is compared to LCO.
Meet Diego Cejas, Senior Environmental Specialist, Quebrada Blanca – Port
When did you start working at Teck and at which site or office?
I started working at Teck in October 2018 on the Quebrada Blanca Environmental team, at the operation's camp ‘Tambo Tarapacá’.
Could you briefly describe what your role is?
My role is to ensure compliance and monitoring of the requirements under QB2’s Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA), and specifically, the requirements for the construction of the Linear Works area (ducts and high voltage lines).
I am currently taking on a new role at the Quebrada Blanca port, where I’m responsible for ensuring compliance with commitments related to the marine environment.
What is your favourite part of your job?
What I like most is the dynamics of the biodiversity in the areas I have worked in. Each field campaign allows us to understand and interpret the movement of this biodiversity and its development in different sites. This information also helps us maintain a minimum impact throughout the project.
What is the most memorable moment or the one that makes you the proudest of the work you do at Teck?
My greatest pride at Teck was being part of the QB2 project team in the environmental work related to the Linear Works area. At first, the scope of the environmental work was small, but it grew exponentially as the project progressed. Achieving the construction of the pipelines and power lines with zero impacts to the Metharme Lanata* species was a great challenge that we were able to overcome.
*Metharme Lanata is a little known and studied bush species that was identified in the QB2 area. For its care, stringent protection measures were developed.
What community do you live/work in and what is special about this place for you?
I was born and raised in Iquique, the capital of the Tarapacá Region, where Quebrada Blanca is located. My grandparents worked at the former Saltpeter Works of Santa Laura at the beginning of the 20th century. For that reason, continuing with the tradition in mining—but from a sustainability perspective—makes my work special.
What is your favourite activity outside of work and why?
My favourite activity is family gatherings with my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. It has become very necessary to hold these gatherings at least once a month; it is a moment of reunion, joy and family growth. I also play outdoor sports such as soccer, bodyboarding, and jogging and biking on the beach.
Gabrielle, Safety Coordinator, Trail Operations
When did you start at the company, and at which site/office?
I started working for Teck in February 2021 at Trail Operations. I feel very lucky to be living close to work.
Briefly describe your role.
I am proud to be part of an amazing team of people. As a health and safety coordinator on site, my role is to ensure everyone goes home safe and healthy every day, through education, coaching, and harnessing the value of teamwork. Wherever there are risks, the Health and Safety Team assists with mitigation and control of hazards, enabling people to safely reach desired results.
How do you see your work represented in our purpose and how do Teck’s values line up with yours?
Great people are working behind Teck’s purpose of providing the essential resources the world is counting on to make life better while caring for the people, communities and land that we love. The efforts include working to promote the wellbeing of Teck’s people, the environment, and the surrounding communities. I certainly appreciate these efforts as a resident of beautiful British Columbia. It is all made possible by talented employees and contractors, so keeping these people safe becomes the priority of my work, and of those on my team.
What gets you up every morning?
The thought of empowering the lives of others inspires me to get out of bed every morning. I know my work influences the lives of my colleagues. Whenever I help them develop a new life skill or discover something new about themselves, I also learn from them too. I was moved the other day when a co-op student thanked me for helping them learn great safety habits they can use at work and home.
There were many role models in my life that taught me important skills and provided an environment that helped me grow and succeed. Knowing that I can do the same for people today is extremely rewarding.
What advice do you have for women trying to pursue a career in mining?
Go for it! The industry benefits a lot when there is diversity in the workforce. There are many ways to find your role within the mining industry, allowing you to jump in feet first. My career in the industry has taken me from Red Seal Carpenter to Health and Safety Coordinator.
Success can be reached with the right guidance and support, which can come from many people: our immediate friends and family, our colleagues, and at Trail Operations, a local Women’s Networking group that aims to connect mentors with mentees. Use your resources and above all, carry yourself with confidence. You are needed and valuable, and the industry welcomes you, as we work to break barriers.
What is your favourite activity outside of work and why?
Anything that gets me physically moving and mentally engaged. Hockey, ball, paddleboarding, hiking – you name it! I will find the gear for it and enjoy the fun. This season I am coaching women’s hockey and it has been extremely rewarding. Having the ability to take a learned skillset and help another person achieve their goals reinforces my own love for the game and what sports can offer us as individuals and a collective community.
