Franco Pirajno

Roles and Affiliations: Franco Pirajno holds the position of Adjunct Professor at The University of Western Australia's School of Earth and Oceans. He also serves as Adjunct Professor at Chengdu University of Technology (China), Honorary Professor at China University of Geosciences, and Honorary Research Fellow at the Natural History Museum, London. His career includes roles as Exploration Manager at Anglo-American Corp, Chair of Exploration Geology at Rhodes University (South Africa), and over 20 years at the Geological Survey of Western Australia.

Education: Doctoral degree in Geological Sciences from the University of Naples Federico II (Awarded 1963).

Research Focus: Specializes in ore deposit geology, tectonics, and mineral exploration. Key areas include economic geology, regional metallogeny, large igneous provinces, and mineral systems of China. His work bridges academic research and industrial applications, contributing to discoveries like Western Australia's Proterozoic terranes and a new large igneous province.

Publications and Awards: Authored 4 books, co-authored 246 peer-reviewed papers, and edited multiple volumes. Recognized as a top 1% Highly Cited Researcher (2019). Served as Editor-in-Chief of Ore Geology Reviews (2012–2022) and Series Editor for Springer's Solid Earth Sciences.

Grants and Collaboration: Co-investigator on projects like the Lucky Strike Gold Prospect study (2019–2020). Collaborates globally, with recent work in Russia, Egypt, and China. Led the Capricorn mineral systems case study dataset (2019).

Labs and Teams: Active in interdisciplinary teams focusing on ore genesis and mineral systems, leveraging advanced analytical techniques like LA-ICP-MS and X-ray tomography.