Robert Piccolo is a dedicated professional with over 36 years of experience serving the mining community. A member of CIM for 25 years, he volunteered extensively, notably as the North Central BC Branch Technical Chair from 2003 to 2020, revitalizing the branch and fostering mining interest in Northern communities. He has also served as a technical program advisor for CMP Vancouver since 2008. His contributions were recognized with the Ray MacDonald Volunteer Award in 2019. 

With qualifications in industrial engineering technology and business management, his expertise in technical reagent sales spans Canada and the USA, now focusing on Western Canadian mining. His customer-centric approach, marked by honesty, loyalty, and reliability, earns trust. Leveraging his experience, he tackles industry challenges with a commitment to excellence. 

Born in Montreal, Alexander John Davidson graduated from McGill University in 1976 with a M.Sc. degree in Economic Geology. Soon after he led an exploration program for SMDC and drilled the discovery hole at the McArthur River uranium deposit in Saskatchewan. In 1980 he joined Falconbridge Copper in Ontario, where he contributed to the discovery of the high-grade Winston Lake zinc deposit in Ontario and the Samatosum silver deposit in B.C. 

He joined Barrick Gold in 1993 and became part of a top-tier team led by Peter Munk and Robert Smith. His vision and team leadership skills helped Barrick meet the challenge of expanding total resources while continually replacing mined ounces on an annual basis. As executive vice president of exploration and corporate development, he helped expand Barrick’s gold resources through a series of world-class discoveries and strategic mergers and acquisitions. 

His achievements helped elevate the stature of Canadian mining at home and overseas and earned him industry honours including the PDAC’s Prospector of the Year Award (2003), the CIM’s A.O. Dufresne Award (2005), the SME’s Charles F. Rand Gold Medal (2019) and induction into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2023.