Rate My Professor George Barakos

Dr. George Barakos serves as a Senior Lecturer in mining engineering at the Western Australia School of Mines (WASM): Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University. He earned his PhD in Mining Engineering magna cum laude from TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, in 2017, with a thesis entitled 'An assessment tool for the mineability of rare earth element deposits.' Prior to this, he completed a Master's degree in Mineral Resources Engineering from the Technical University of Crete. His early career included working as a Mining Engineer at Lithotomi Anaplasi S.A. from June 2007 to July 2013, a Research Assistant at SINTEF Formation Physics from May to August 2006, Research Associate and PhD candidate at TU Bergakademie Freiberg from 2013 to 2017, and Research Associate and Post-Doctoral Fellow at the same institution from 2017 to 2022. Barakos joined Curtin University as a Lecturer and Researcher, advancing to Senior Lecturer, and contributes to the Kalgoorlie Campus Council membership from 2024 to 2026.

Barakos' academic interests center on mining engineering, rock mechanics, mineral economics, 3D mine planning, and environmental impact evaluation, with current projects on uranium mining, rare earth element deposits, battery raw materials, strategic metals, fractal geometry in porous media, gas adsorption models, critical minerals assessment, and social license to operate. He has produced extensive publications, including 'Sustainable mining of critical minerals and metals around the world: bottlenecks and opportunities' (2022), 'The long uphill journey of Australia’s rare earth element industry: challenges and opportunities' (2022), 'A Smart Algorithm for Global Criticality Assessment of Minerals and Metals' (2025), 'Copper, crime, and the circular economy: How shadow flows threaten the green transition' (2026), 'Improved Model of Coalbed Methane Target Selection Under Complex Geological Conditions' (2025), 'Fractal Characterization on Three-Dimensional Tortuosity of Fault Tectonic' (2024), and 'A Fractal-Modified Dubinin-Astakhov Equation for Micropores Adsorption in Porous Media: Principle, Methodology and Implication' (2026). His work supports sustainable practices, supply chain security for critical raw materials, and innovative evaluation tools for mining projects worldwide.