by Heather Friesen and Mfikeyi Makayi
Gestina Mpuhuyawu is a graduate of the Copperbelt University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Before that, she attended Mushindamo Girls Secondary School in North Western Province, Zambia — a region rich in mining heritage but where opportunities for young women in the industry have historically been scarce.
Gestina joined KoBold’s internship program in November 2024 and made an immediate impression. Her technical aptitude, willingness to learn, and quiet determination set her apart from day one. Within a year, she had progressed from intern to drilling engineer — and not just anywhere. Today, Gestina is on the ground in Sodankylä, Finland, inducting a Finnish drill crew on KoBold’s Risti Base of Till drilling project. She is KoBold’s first female Zambian drilling engineer.
Let that sink in: a young woman from North Western Province, Zambia, standing in the Arctic Circle, leading the onboarding of a European drill crew on a world-class exploration program.
And Gestina isn’t slowing down. She continues to take on new challenges with each assignment, expanding her expertise across different drilling environments, rig types, and geological settings. Her colleagues describe her as someone who asks the right questions, adapts quickly, loves to solve problems and raises the standard of everyone around her. With every project she touches, she is building the kind of deep, cross-continental experience that defines a future leader in exploration drilling.
She’s a powerhouse in the making — and we can’t wait to see where she goes next. KoBold moves fast and builds world-class talent, and Gestina is proof of this.