On the 23rd of January of 2023, SPE-KSA’s T&PP hosted its 3rd dinner featuring the Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden). The dinner meeting was emceed by Meshal Alsana, a petroleum engineer from Saudi Aramco and T&PP team member.

During the dinner meeting, Mr. Wilt spoke about the history and the transformation of the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) under Vision 2030 reforms. Founded in 1997, the company was established by royal decree with a mandate to develop Saudi Arabia’s minerals sector to diversify beyond oil and petrochemicals, fulfilling the third pillar of Vision 2030 and in line with the Kingdom’s and the United Nations Sustainable Development (UN SDG). Since its 2008 IPO, Ma’aden has successfully diversified from being a gold-producing company by building abundant, world-class phosphate, aluminum, industrial minerals, and copper concentrate operations and has set its sight going global by marketing its products worldwide as they develop new locations and building new industrial plants. During the session, Mr. Wilt also spoke about Ma’aden’s commitment to attracting, developing, and retaining local talent needed to build Saudi’s modern mining industry. The company has launched multiple programs to develop the next generation of talent by partnering with the Ministry of Education and local schools and universities, as well as launching in-house programs for professional development.

Mr. Wilt’s role is to govern and lead Saudi Arabia’s national mining champion. Prior to joining Maáden between February 2020 and January 2022, Robert was President and CEO of Sofia Foods, one of Canada’s largest food processing companies. He was also the former President of Metals Group at Precision Castparts Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, where he managed two subsidiary aerospace and industrial companies with a combined total global revenue of $2.5 billion. Mr. Wilt also spent 17 years at Alcoa, culminating as Executive Vice President and  President of Global, its Primary Products business. Robert began his career in the U.S. Army. He served as a combat engineer officer in the 101st Airborne Division, and he is a veteran of the first Iraq war. Robert holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering Management from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Overall the January 2023 T&PP dinner meeting was well received, with many members of the SPE-KSA community from industry leaders, executive management, professionals, and students in attendance.