Carlito Baltazar Tabelin

Carlito is an environmental geochemist competent in the fields of inorganic contaminant geochemistry, rock-soil-water interactions, geochemical and reactive transport modelling, electrochemistry, mine waste management, prevention/control of acid mine/rock drainage (AMD/ARD), and remediation of contaminated sites. He received his Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering degree from Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Philippines in 2004 and finished his Master and Doctorate degrees in Field Engineering for Environment at Hokkaido University, Japan in 2008 and 2011, respectively. He developed two novel passivation techniques that specifically targeted pyrite and encapsulate it with metal-oxyhydroxide/oxide coatings to limit AMD formation: (1) galvanic microencapsulation (GME), and (2) micro-seed enhanced encapsulation (MEE). His research group further improved the patented carrier microencapsulation (CME) technique by developing a method to synthesize titanium-, aluminium- and iron-catecholate complexes and understanding their electrochemical properties. Carlito moved to Australia in 2019 and joined the School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering at UNSW-Sydney. He will continue working on sustainable mine waste management strategies, optimization of flotation circuits, AMD/ARD prevention and control, and remediation of contaminated sites. His other research interests include agglomeration-flotation of fine sulphides, leaching of copper-sulphides in chloride media and leaching-recovery of gold from electronic wastes.