WMC Leadership - Board of Directors

Carolyn Clark Loder

Carolyn Clark Loder: Carolyn is the first woman of the 20th and 21st centuries to be inducted into the prestigious National Mining Hall of Fame. Carolyn has devoted her life to preserving mining viability and promoting fair treatment of native Americans and local communities, while protecting access to mineral resources on public lands. Her dedication to the industry spans more than forty years, from early work in federal land management planning identifying the loss of federal lands to mineral entry in the 1970’s to defeating multiple anti-mining initiatives.

She spent more than a decade initiating a landmark land exchange among two federally recognized Tribes in New Mexico and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which resulted in the resolution of a 400-year tribal land dispute thus allowing mining on tribal lands. She received awards from the Tribe and the industry for her innovative, transparent, and fair approach to her work.

Carolyn was honored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for her “Significant Contribution to the Nation’s Energy Program'' for protecting access to our nation's mineral resources. She served as President of Sonora Mining Corp. Jamestown Mine, the nation’s largest gold flotation facility and was the first woman elected President of the California Mining Association in the 1990’s. She headed up Minerals Rights and Public Lands for Freeport-McMoRan, the world’s largest copper producer and LafargeHolcim, the world’s largest cement producer.

Carolyn was invited to address the United Nations, Special Rapporteur and High Commissioner of Human Rights regarding Indigenous Rights and the Extractive Industries. Loder was appointed to the BLM Resource Advisory Council for Arizona as the first woman to represent mining and energy. In her 9-year role as Chair of the Mining and Energy Working Group and Vice Chair of the Council, she obtained a landmark vote opposing the withdrawal of over a million acres from mineral entry in Arizona.

Carolyn currently serves on the Board of Integra Resources, on the New York Stock Exchange and serves on the Board of K2Gold and as Board Advisor to Kodiak Copper, both part of the Discovery Group.

She has received international recognition for her pathfinder accomplishments. Carolyn was honored as the “Top 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining” by Women in Mining – United Kingdom. She was named Person-of-the-Year by the New Mexico Mining Association, the Arizona Rock Products Association, and the National Association of Women in Construction. She served as Vice Chair of the New Mexico Mining Association. Carolyn gives generously through a University endowment that she established in her parent’s name.