Iqaluit (Oct 20/03) - Eira Thomas says there are many sacrifices involved in being in the mining industry.

First, you have to spend a lot of time in remote places. Then you're travelling all the time, she says.

"It has to fit your lifestyle, particularly for women. If they choose to have a family, it's not an easy thing to do."

As president of Stornaway Diamond Corporation, Eira Thomas admits there aren't a lot of women at the top in the Canadian mining industry. She cites Stornaway director and co-chairwoman Catherine McLeod-Seltzer, along with a handful of others, as notable exceptions.

At the same time, Thomas prefers not to put her success in male-female terms.

"I think most young women think they have as many opportunities as young men," she explains.

Being North of 60 is something that comes naturally for Thomas. Her father, Gren Thomas, worked throughout the North for the breadth of his career.

Thomas' familiarity for and knowledge of the North dates back to her childhood days and was augmented through a degree in geology from the University of Toronto.

After graduating, Thomas became involved in the Lac de Gras rush, working as a geologist with Aber Resources from 1992 to 1996. She led the exploration team that discovered the Diavik diamond project pipes in 1994 and 1995. Later, she went on to become vice president of exploration for Aber between 1997 and 1999.

While Thomas' career success is a bright light to the industry as a whole, she notes with some concern a general decline in the number of young people going into sciences and geology.

"There's a combination of ways the industry can be promoted. I think there's a perception our industry is not as innovative as it could be and we would beg to differ. A lot of what we do is cutting edge," she says.

While the average age in the industry is creeping up, Thomas reports all the management at Stornaway are under 45 years old.

While there are concerns for bringing more young people into the industry as a whole, Thomas says the bureaucratic system in the North needs to be streamlined so that industry can come online more quickly while still caring for the environment.

"It comes down to timelines, permits and access to ground. It often takes months and months to get permits. Having said that, I believe the government of Nunavut has been more helpful than the Northwest Territories.

"The government is pretty aware of our concerns. They have heard us and are making attempts to address the issue. It's going to be a challenge and it's going to take a lot of will to sort a lot of it out."