Yan Lim is the Stawell Gold Mine's health, safety, environment and community advisor and her remarkable work within the industry has been recognised, winning the 2021 Exceptional Young Woman in Victorian Resources award from the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).

Ms Lim was announced as the winner of the award earlier in July, news that was a great surprise to her.

"I was stoked. I couldn't believe it," she said

"Obviously there was going to be other exceptional women out there, and for them to think I am worthy of the award this year, I am completely honoured.

"I got a phone call from the Victorian MCA on Tuesday to let me know and I thought 'this is amazing'.

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"I mainly applied to show other women, and women of other race, to break down that stereotype and show that we are doing good work, we are giving back to the community."

Ms Lim grew up overseas before travelling to Australia to attend university.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Environmental Science she worked in a newly created graduate role which helped her decide to keeping living in Australia and regional Victoria.

After some time Ms Lim left the Stawell Gold Mine, when it closed in December 2016, and she headed north to work with a mine in a remote part of the Northern Territory.

Then, when Stawell Gold Mine reopened Ms Lim returned to Stawell.

"I definitely returned because of the people," she said.

"I feel the support you get from everyone is phenomenal.

"I couldn't have done it without everyone, whether it's from family or from work colleagues, just that supportive push you get is amazing.

"It drives you to push yourself further and it makes you want to do more and excel in different things."

Since then, Yan has earned a leadership role, responsible for the Stawell Gold Mine's bioreactor which provides regulators with confidence that Stawell Gold Mine's can complete rehabilitation successfully.

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She is also part of the emergency response team and wants to continue to act as a role model for woman in the resources industry.

"We already have very limited female representation (in the industry) and I want to show that woman can be in emergency response roles, especially in leadership positions," she said.

"I want to demonstrate we can fill all the roles, there are no boundaries for us.

"To others I would say, challenge boundaries.

"The boundaries are only there if you set them to be there. There is going to be obstacles, its going to be hard, people are always going to tell you can't do it.

"But if you persist you can get there in the end, no matter what goal you set yourself."

Three other women at the Stawell Gold Mine were also nominated for MCA awards:

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