Robert R. Reynolds was born May 31, 1917, in Gravity, Iowa, to parents Clyde Vernon and Pearl (Pierson) Reynolds. He attended high school in Gravity, graduating in 1935, then went on to the University of Chicago where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1939. In 1940, Reynolds began his metals geology career as an assistant geologist in the Industrial Minerals Division of the Illinois State Geological Survey, Urbana, Illinois. He also attended graduate school during this time, earning his master’s degree in 1942. He married Viola Faber in 1944.

Reynolds began working for Inland Lead and Zinc Company in 1946, but the company closed down shortly thereafter. He was able to get a position teaching introductory geology at Wisconsin Tech for a year. In 1947, he joined Calumet and Hecla in their exploration office. During a leave of absence from 1949 to 1951, Reynolds served with the United States Geological Survey’s Foreign Section in Africa, and then returned to the company. In 1953, he was transferred to Michigan, then in 1954 moved first to Colorado then on to New Mexico where he prospected for uranium.

The Cerro de Pasco Corporation hired Reynolds as chief of its Arizona exploration unit in 1959. The company was interested in porphyry copper deposits and feldspar. He stayed with Cerro until 1961 when he joined Ayrshire Collieries to conduct that company’s western coal operations in Tucson, Arizona. In 1966, he joined PIAMCO where his work involved locating substantial coal reserves. He also did work in fluorspar. In 1977, Reynolds retired from PIAMCO to become an independent consultant, working with the Exxon Corporation and Arch Minerals.