{"id":6664,"date":"2026-03-08T12:52:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T16:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/?p=6664"},"modified":"2026-03-08T12:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T16:53:16","slug":"rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/","title":{"rendered":"Rana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Neville Judd<\/p>\n

Rana Abdullah Zamai is no stranger to hard work. Already editor in chief of the Saudi Geological Survey\u2019s Ardhona<\/em> publication, and Deputy chairwoman of the Kingdom\u2019s Professional Fashion Association Board, Zamai spent most of her 2025 annual vacation forming Women in Mining\u2019s Saudi Arabia chapter.<\/p>\n

Less than a year on, WIM-Saudi Arabia is already broadening the country\u2019s talent pool of future miners through strategic partnerships with Saudi mining companies. Broadening the country\u2019s mining talent pool is central to the organisation\u2019s mandate, said Zamai, now its chairwoman.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Chairwoman of Women in Mining-Saudi Arabia, Rana Abdullah Zamai.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe want to empower and connect women across the mining value chain so they can contribute to Vision 2030,\u201d she said of the country\u2019s ambitious plan to transform the Kingdom\u2019s economy, society, and culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage mining companies to show the value of diversity by signing partnerships to support training and to trust women with responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maaden is one of those companies supporting WIM\u2019s goals as part of a wider effort to empower the next generation of mining leaders. That effort includes agreements with leading universities.<\/p>\n

At January\u2019s Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Maaden and Hexagon announced partnerships<\/a> with Saudi universities as part of a landmark agreement to create the region\u2019s first digital mine at Mansourah-Massarah.<\/p>\n

The timing coincides with the first cohort of female mining students at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), where students will be exposed to industry-leading tools, practical training, and new opportunities for professional development.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Fielding questions at the Women in Mining booth at January\u2019s Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.<\/p><\/div>\n

Partnerships have also been forged with King Saud University (KSU) and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) where Hexagon software licences, faculty and student training programmes, and internship opportunities will be made available for top-performing students at Hexagon\u2019s new Riyadh office.<\/p>\n

Under Zamai\u2019s leadership, WIM-Saudi Arabia has also signed agreements with Saudi Gold Refinery and WIM-Central America.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited to partner with Ana Juarez of WIM-Central America to create an educational book for the next generation of women who want a career in mining,\u201d said Zamai. Juarez has authored children\u2019s books aimed at changing the way young people think about mining.<\/p>\n

Such initiatives continue to be important in changing cultural perceptions about women\u2019s roles, said Zamai. In some communities, she said, there\u2019s resistance and misinformation, presenting a challenge to girls interested in mining.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Hexagon Principal Advisor, Elio Suazo, guides a forum attendee through a Hexagon TeleOp demo at FMF in Riyadh.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAs well as educational books we want to create exploration kids\u2019 clubs that connect with children and create ambassadors who can show girls what\u2019s possible. Experience in STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] subjects now makes you very welcome to be part of this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

A cornerstone of Hexagon\u2019s partnership with Maaden is a collaboration with King Abdulaziz University (KAU), developed with support from national leadership, to modernise mining curricula, integrate advanced digital technologies, and create meaningful pathways into modern mining careers.<\/p><\/div>\n

Zamai\u2019s own academic and professional experience is rich and varied. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and a Master\u2019s degree in Business\/Corporate and Marketing Communications. Zamai spent almost three years as head of corporate communications at Nesma, where she had previously managed the company\u2019s embroidery factories across the Kingdom, creating opportunities for women.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see how you can change lives with training and opportunities, you feel that bliss come to your life. This comes from my heart,\u201d said Zamai. \u201cToday we have a vision, we don\u2019t have to create factories to provide opportunities to women.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a sustainable source of good opportunities for women in Saudi Arabia. A lot of hard work is still needed by government and leaders but there is a clear vision for the sector to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Zamai, the work is only just beginning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Neville Judd Rana Abdullah Zamai is no stranger to hard work. Already editor in chief of the Saudi Geological Survey\u2019s Ardhona publication, and Deputy chairwoman of the Kingdom\u2019s Professional Fashion Association Board, Zamai spent most of her 2025 annual vacation forming Women in Mining\u2019s Saudi Arabia chapter. Less than a year on, WIM-Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":6673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[792,749],"class_list":{"0":"post-6664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-saudi-arabia","9":"tag-women-in-mining"},"yoast_head":"\nRana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining - Hexagon - Mining Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining - Hexagon - Mining Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Neville Judd Rana Abdullah Zamai is no stranger to hard work. Already editor in chief of the Saudi Geological Survey\u2019s Ardhona publication, and Deputy chairwoman of the Kingdom\u2019s Professional Fashion Association Board, Zamai spent most of her 2025 annual vacation forming Women in Mining\u2019s Saudi Arabia chapter. Less than a year on, WIM-Saudi ArabiaRead More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hexagon - Mining Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-08T16:52:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-08T16:53:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/women-in-mining5-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Neville Judd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Neville Judd\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/\",\"name\":\"Rana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining - Hexagon - Mining Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-08T16:52:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-08T16:53:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f2e58f1da3a0995be147cef04af207e4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Hexagon - Mining Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f2e58f1da3a0995be147cef04af207e4\",\"name\":\"Neville Judd\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Nev_300x400-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Nev_300x400-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Neville Judd\"},\"description\":\"Neville Judd was a journalist for 25 years before becoming manager of content and communications for Hexagon\u2019s Mining division. He is the linchpin for the company\u2019s life-of-mine narrative, sharing stories of customer partnerships and digital transformation.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/author\/neville-judd\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining - Hexagon - Mining Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining - Hexagon - Mining Blog","og_description":"By Neville Judd Rana Abdullah Zamai is no stranger to hard work. Already editor in chief of the Saudi Geological Survey\u2019s Ardhona publication, and Deputy chairwoman of the Kingdom\u2019s Professional Fashion Association Board, Zamai spent most of her 2025 annual vacation forming Women in Mining\u2019s Saudi Arabia chapter. Less than a year on, WIM-Saudi ArabiaRead More","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/","og_site_name":"Hexagon - Mining Blog","article_published_time":"2026-03-08T16:52:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-08T16:53:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/women-in-mining5-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Neville Judd","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Neville Judd","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/","name":"Rana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining - Hexagon - Mining Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-08T16:52:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-08T16:53:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f2e58f1da3a0995be147cef04af207e4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/rana-abdullah-zamai-on-building-the-future-of-women-in-saudi-mining\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rana Abdullah Zamai on building the future of women in Saudi mining"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/","name":"Hexagon - Mining Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f2e58f1da3a0995be147cef04af207e4","name":"Neville Judd","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Nev_300x400-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Nev_300x400-150x150.jpg","caption":"Neville Judd"},"description":"Neville Judd was a journalist for 25 years before becoming manager of content and communications for Hexagon\u2019s Mining division. He is the linchpin for the company\u2019s life-of-mine narrative, sharing stories of customer partnerships and digital transformation.","url":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/author\/neville-judd\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}