Naoual Zine, a hard worker in the radiant mine
Training Engineer Naoual Zine is now Director of Finance and Corporate Controlling at Managem, married with two children. Back on an exceptional course of a kind and committed woman who has established herself in a purely masculine world. The mines B At ease,comfortable, and in good work, long strides rather adept of the small step : It’s the impression that she gives at hand. Naoual Zine, director of finance and cooperate management control group Managem , has built her career on land , in the heart of mine – a purely male world – before climbing the ladder in addressing the challenges.
But nothing was easy. ” Frustrated by the interpretations of the old mining code which forbade manual labor of women in an underground mine , I made a reason to prolong as much as possible my presence in the mine to break that paradigm and make competence the only currency qualifying , “said the young woman mother of two who has perfectly reconcile private and professional life. Driven by the ambition to pursue a career related to science she adored, Naoual Zine chose to study engineering. Thus she integrates in 1996, when she left the preparatory classes, the Mohammedia School of Engineering. Chance or fate already had that for her first internship, she will find herself on the ground in the middle of the career of Phosphates in Sidi Daoui in the Khouribga region. At the time, she was barely 19 years old and realises after a few days that she was the only woman on the site. “It was obviously a world reserved for the male sex ,” she recalls. Freshly graduated, she is contacted by the mine pole of ONA group (Managem currently) in 1998 to guide the project of extension of the Group’s silver mine located near Tinghir , 160 km from Ouarzazate. «At 22years, I found it very interesting to assign such responsibility to a young engineer girl especially since the offer had more of a challenge: I had to integrate into a fulltime shift mine while I was the first and only female engineer on site and to top it all, it was a project of 126 million dirhams investment affecting almost all engineering aspects: equipment, methods of treatment, management outsourcing, human resources … , ” she said. On arrival at the mine, the teams were convinced that she would not take more than three months. ” Anecdotally, I heard them often bet on the time I will spend with them on site before resigning. I must say that I was part of the project period (one year) but finally I stayed three years, ” she says with amusement. Thus began the love story that binds Naoual Zine today with Managem because since that time she considers the mining group as her family. In 2003, she was appointed head of management control for the occupation of the mine. Equipped by the mastery of management and strong systems of knowledge of all Managem sites, in 2005, she was appointed director of general control (a newly created position within the group). ” I assured the corporate level responsible for three areas: corporate management control, internal audit and risk management ,” she says. In late 2008, the young engineer who has always projected in the operational area was asked to serve on the Executive Committee of Managem to additionally provide for the corporate management control, the management of finance and accounting. Inspired by a visit she had made in the Noranda mines in Canada, she volunteered to create and manage a mining planning structure at the silver mine. “Thanks to the values of our Group which encourages the implementation of the same initiatives even from young engineers, the project was approved and I have coordinated ,” suggests Ms. Zine calling this experience a great challenge. She said ‘Because she had to gather around the same table multidisciplinary teams. Composed of geologists, mining engineers and process engineers, these exchange areas, for it to take place in a good atmosphere, there was main objective to ensure coherence and a common vision. Geologists had as main concern to ensure the sustainability of the mining resource. Opposite, there were mining engineers, processes and maintenance that are required by the operational objectives of production. More than fulfilled mission to Naoual Zine . Throughout her career she has never gets tired because everything she do, she does it with dedication and determination. In addition she does not know the routine, her days will follow without resemble ” each day is punctuated by a series of different activities and different missions to fulfill .”
Because of the international dimension of Managem, she is still in flight. She describes herself as an «electron in the orbit of an atom .” Still on the ground, she crossed almost all the deep Morocco. And Africa has almost no secret for her. Libreville (Gabon) in Kinshasa (DRC) through Khartoum (Sudan), the engaged woman practically covered the majority of countries in West Africa. And yet she never felt disoriented because she precise proudly: «I always rediscover in the family of miners in all countries where I go .” When it is not movement, she covers both ends of love sprouts: Rania (6 years) and Anis (2 years) who, she said, “are her source of energy and youth». Although it is difficult to reconcile with her concern between private life and professional life, Naoual Zine, manages to leave time for her family, her first priority. Like what, with the seriousness and commitment we can have it all.
