Innovating Sustainable Mineral Technology
Welcome to SusMinT Laboratory
Welcome to SusMinT Laboratory's website. Here, we aim to share our research, studies, and scientific contributions. Feel free to explore our work and get to know our team.
SusMinT Laboratory is dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research in the field of mineralogy and sustainable mining technologies. Our team is committed to making significant contributions to the scientific community and addressing the challenges in the mining industry. We strive to develop innovative and sustainable solutions through our extensive studies and collaborative projects.
Expertise
Mineral Processing; Flotation Chemistry; Critical Materials Extraction and Purification, Hydrometallurgy
Education
B.S. Mineral Processing Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, 2011
M.S. Mineral Processing Engineering, Central South University, 2013
Ph.D. Mining Engineering, University of Kentucky, 2017
Awards and Honors
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Top 1 highly ranked scholar worldwide in the field of Rare Earth Elements over the past five years by ScholarGPS in 2025.
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2025 World’s Top 2% Scientists [Career-long Impact & Single-year Impact; DOI: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.8]
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Top 1% scientist in the discipline of mining and metallurgy [2024 (DOI:10.17632/btchxktzyw.7); 2023 (DOI: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.6); 2022 (DOI: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.4)]
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Top 2% scientist in all scientific discipline [2024 (DOI:10.17632/btchxktzyw.7); 2023 (DOI: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.6); 2022 (DOI: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.4)]
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Dean’s Fellow, VT College of Engineering, 2025-2026.
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Fellow of Scialog: Sustainable Minerals, Metals and Materials (SM3), 2024.
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Outstanding Contribution Award, Editorial Office of Green and Smart Mining Engineering, 2024.
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Outstanding Young Engineer Award, Mineral Processing Division, Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, 2023.
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By Example University Award, Virginia Tech, 2023.
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Minerals 2022 Best Paper Award
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Outstanding New Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech Engineering Dean’s Award for Excellence, 2022.
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Rong Yu Wan PhD Dissertation Award, Mineral Processing Division, SME, 2018
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Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Mining Department, University of Kentucky, 2017
Professional Services
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Green and Smart Mining Engineering (Associate editor, December 2023 – present)
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Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration journal (Associate editor, August 2021 – present)
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Minerals and Mineral Materials (Editorial board member, October 2021 – present)
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International Journal of Coal Preparation Utilization and Preparation (editorial board member, May 2020 – Present)
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Frontiers in Materials (reviewer editorial board member, January 2021 – Present; associated editor in Colloidal Materials and Interfaces section, June 2022 - Present)
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Minerals (Reviewer board member & Topic advisory panel member, November 2019 – Present)
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Frontiers in Chemistry (Topic editor, February 2020 – Present)
Associate Professor
Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering
Virginia Tech
Professional Experience
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06/2024 - Present: Associate Professor, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060
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08/2019 - 06/2024: Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060
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08/2018 - 07/2019: Assistant Research Professor, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506
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06/2017 - 07/2018: Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506
Research Scientists & Postdocs
Xu Wang
(December 2025 - Present, Research Scientist; August 2023 - December 2025, Postdoc)
Ph.D. Minerals Processing Engineering, Central South University
M.S. Minerals Processing Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology
B.S. Minerals Processing Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology
Amrita Preetam
(February 2026 - Present, Postdoc)
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, IIT Delhi
M.S. Chemical Engineering, BITS Pilani
B.S. Chemical Engineering, KNMIET Modinagar
Weiquan Zhan
(Starts in April 2025; Postdoc)
Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Engineering, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí
M.S. Minerals Engineering,
Wuhan University of Technology
B.S. Minerals Engineering,
Wuhan University of Technology
Peidong Liu
(July 2026 - Present, Postdoc)
Ph.D. in Mining Engineering, Virginia Tech
M.S. in Materials and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Hunan, China
B.S. in Powder Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Hunan, China
Lingqun Zeng
(February 2025 - Present; Postdoc)
Ph.D. Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, University at Albany, SUNY
M.S. Science in Environmental Engineering,
Huazhong Agricultural University
B.S. Science in Environmental Science,
Huazhong Agricultural University
Sepehr Ghaderi
(Fall 2023 - Present; PhD Candidate)
M.S. in Extractive Metallurgy, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
B.S. in Extractive Metallurgy, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Yi Wang
(Fall 2023 - Present; PhD Candidate)
M.S. in Mineral Processing, Fuzhou University, Fujian, China
B.S. in Mineral Processing, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Hubei, China
Huanjun Bao
(Fall 2025 - Present; PhD Student)
B.S. Mineral Processing Engineering , Wuhan University of Technology
M.S. Mineral Processing Engineering, Central South University
Graduate Students
Arji E. Parsad
(Fall 2025 - Present; PhD Student)
B.S. Earth Science and Chemistry, Tulane University
JJay Ordillas
(02/2025 - present)
Rancel Torres-Cruz
(02/2026 - present)
Nyima Kijera
(03/2026 - present)
Undergraduate Students
Alumni
Zhenghao Zhou
M.S. (2022-2026)
Current Position: Research Associate, Virginia Tech
Peidong Liu
PhD (2023-2026)
Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Virginia Tech
Yanan Pan
PhD (2023-2026)
Current Position: Assistant Professor, The University of Kentucky
Wei Liu
Postdoc (2023)
Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Michigan Tech
Zhongqing Xiao
Ph.D. (2021-2025)
Current Position:
Chemist,
QuestMetals (Houston, TX)
Shiyu Li
Ph.D. (2022-2024)
Current Position: Assistant Professor, New Mexico Tech (Socorro, NM)
Qi Li
Ph.D. (2020-2023)
Current Position: Director of Technology, Austin Elements, Inc. (Houston, TX)
Bin Ji
Ph.D. (2020-2022)
Current Position: Professor, Central South University (Changsha, Hunan, China)
Sharon Pedraza
M.S. (2021-2023)
Current Position:
Process Engineer, Albemarle (Kings Mountain, NC )
