South Africa-based miners were prominent among the handful of resource companies making the list, which included Albemarle, Alcoa, Anglo American Platinum, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony Gold Mining, Iamgold, Impala Platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater and Teck Resources.

"Year over year, Bloomberg's gender reporting framework continues to expand the universe of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data available to investors globally by providing more in-depth metrics from a broad range of public companies across 50 industries," chairman Peter Grauer said.

"This level of transparency into how companies are tackling gender equality in the workplace and their local communities is fuelling financial decision-making around the world, and is supporting the business case for an inclusive corporate environment."

Teck (TSX: TECK.B) president and CEO Don Lindsay said the company was proud to make the list, for the third year in a row.

"Gender equality is a critical part of our commitment to inclusion and diversity, and contributes to a stronger workforce and a better company," he said.

Gold Fields (JSE: GFI) said it was included for the second time, adding 20% of its global workforce were women and 20% of management positions were held by females.

"Working in five countries with nine mines and one project, diversity is key to our success," EVP people and organisational effectiveness Rosh Bardien said.

Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE: SGL) CEO Neal Froneman said the company's inclusion was "heartening and energises us to build on what we have achieved to date, to continue promoting gender equality throughout our business".

Companies with a market capitalisation above US$1 billion were eligible for inclusion in the index, which was expanded from the 230 companies included last year.