Robert was the Fellow Metallurgy at Newmont Mining Corporation before he retired at the end of 2013, prior to this he held the position of Group Executive-Metallurgy Development and Technology. Over the last 30 years Robert has worked for a number of mining companies including Anglo American, Anglovaal and Newcrest Mining and also spent time at the Western Australian School of Mines lecturing and at Mintek where he was involved in introducing new technologies into the mining industry. He has published widely in the field of flotation and also contributed to a number of books on flotation.