10 September 2025

Ashlee Mills named Whitehaven’s Employee of the Year

Whitehaven’s Annual STRIVE Awards Dinner was held at the Gunnedah Town Hall last month, with more than 100 employees and senior leaders coming together to celebrate standout achievers across the business.

Awards were presented for each of Whitehaven’s STRIVE values – Safety, Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Value and Excellence – as well as Team of the Year and Employee of the Year.

Ashlee Mills, HV Electrician from Daunia Mine, took home the 2025 Employee of the Year award – becoming the first Queensland employee to receive the top award.

Ashlee’s journey into mining began far from the pit.

“I grew up on a cattle station outside of Winton in Central Queensland,” said Ashlee. “It was quite remote, an hour from the closest town. So having access to trades when I was a kid was always an issue we had.

“I learnt a lot from my dad and my older brother about fixing things and really enjoyed hands on work.”

After moving to boarding school in Rockhampton to complete her secondary education, Ashlee discovered a passion for electrical work while completing a Certificate II in Electrotechnology during year eleven.

“I figured out then that I wanted to be an electrician and that continued through year twelve.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after year twelve, so I thought about doing an apprenticeship and started applying at mines because my brother was a fitter in the mines. He really likes the industry, so I thought I’d give it a go.”

Ashlee started an apprenticeship at Blackwater Mine in 2019, completing her four-year apprenticeship before transferring to Daunia in 2023.

It was the support of her teammates when she moved to Daunia that gave Ashlee the confidence to tackle a difficult job, which ultimately put her in the running for the Employee of the Year award.

Ashlee was recognised with monthly and quarterly STRIVE awards before receiving the top honour.

“It’s a nice feeling to be recognised. In the moment I was shocked. I looked around the table and the Daunia people sitting with me knew why I’d been nominated, and they were like, ‘Oh my God, you’ve won it.’ I’m very grateful to Kai Gregoratos, Operational Technology Technician, who nominated me.’”

She credits her success to the support of her teammates. “I learnt a lot in the four years at Blackwater and I had a lot of great tradespeople teach me, but they said you learn the most in the first six months out of your apprenticeship, and they were right.

“The team at Daunia have been so supportive and so helpful to let me find my feet. They constantly support me in everything I do and always give me a hand if I need it,” she added.

Looking to the future, Ashlee is focused on honing her skills as an HV electrician and gaining her Cert IV in Training and Assessment and maybe supervising. “I want to be very, very good at my trade before I’m telling people what to do.”

She also encourages other young women considering a career in mining to follow her path. “Just give it a go. The worst thing that’s going to happen is you’re going to decide, hey, I don’t want to do this anymore, but at least you’ve tried.

“You might find it’s the best thing that you’ve ever done.”

With a $10,000 travel prize included in the Employee of the Year Award, Europe may get crossed off Ashlee’s bucket list earlier than expected!

Congratulations, Ashlee from everyone at Whitehaven.

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