[2] In the 1890s Davidson travelled frequently and undertook a variety of mining and prospecting work in Kalgoorlie, Mount Pleasant and New Guinea.
For the trip to New Guinea, which took place between March and August 1897, he was commissioned by Zebina Lane and, from his exploration, found that the cost of gold mining there would be too high due to the isolation of the goldfields.
[5][6][7] Davidson drew accurate and detailed maps of the region, which was previously considered one of 'the largest block of unknown country in Australia', and these were used for many years by other prospectors and mining companies.
[2][3][8][9] During this expedition Davidson also discovered wolframite at Hatches Creek wolfram field but, as they were looking for gold, this discovery was not followed up at the time.
[12] In 1901, after the completion of this exploration in Central Australia, Davidson spent time mining in West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana) and later also in Chile.