Ioan Sanislav never set out to become a geologist
But the Romanian-born researcher now leads a centre investigating one of the richest mineral systems on Earth – and helping the companies using it to power the energy transition.
When he’s not at James Cook University’s Townsville campus, Associate Professor Ioan Sanislav spends his days out in the field, anywhere from the spinifex and iron-stained ridges of north-west Queensland to the granite hills and rainforest around Cairns.
It’s quite a contrast to his childhood in Ocna Mureș – a historic Transylvanian town – where Sanislav never dreamed he would one day be a geologist on the other side of the world.
“I don’t have a good story,” Sanislav says. “I didn’t know when I finished high school what I was going to do.”
A friend’s older brother was studying geology and talked enthusiastically about it, prompting Sanislav to enrol, thinking it would be fun.
“I signed up and went to do geology without ever dreaming of being a geologist – but once I started doing it, I liked it.”
What kept him in the discipline was something he hadn't anticipated: the questions.
“I was always curious and interested in answering questions,” Sanislav says. “I completed two research projects as part of my undergraduate degree, including an optional one on manganese deposits that I did with one of the professors purely because I was curious.
“I started realising there are a lot of really interesting questions out there and that I loved research.”
Building a career in North Queensland
The discovery that the ground was full of problems he wanted to solve carried Sanislav to a master’s degree, then a decision to study a PhD overseas.
He applied to universities in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, receiving multiple offers, including from three universities in the world top 40.
In the end, it was the warmth of JCU’s offer that decided him.
“I had no idea where JCU was, I had never heard of Townsville,” he says. “But the offer from my supervisor was the most enthusiastic; he was really keen to have me here and to work with me. That’s why I chose it.”
Sanislav stayed at JCU after his PhD for much the same reason that drew him in the first place: people and opportunities.
“I am lucky to work with people with whom I really enjoy collaborating,” he says. “I’m also in the right place to do what I love, with lots of opportunities. The facilities we have allow me to do everything I want – I can pursue questions I care about without having to compromise.”
Solving questions beneath the surface
Today, Sanislav leads JCU's Economic Geology Research Centre, which has a four-decade history studying the North Queensland mineral system – the North-West and North-East Mineral Provinces.
This area holds one of the world's largest accumulations of lead and zinc, alongside copper, gold, silver and the critical minerals now in global demand for decarbonisation – such as vanadium, indium, rare earths and cobalt.
But the questions he investigates are not just informed by his own interests.
“When we decide what we study, we consult with our stakeholders,” he says. This ensures the work he and the centre undertake is relevant to industry.
That includes structural geology: working out the shape of deposits and their response to mining so companies can extract minerals more predictably and know where more are likely to be found.
This extends from traditional targets like gold and copper to critical minerals including indium and rare earths, which Sanislav investigates as JCU lead of the $100 million Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer.
He and his team are also developing ways to see through covering rock using neutron tomography core scanners, and machine-learning methods that comb large geochemical datasets for the faint signals of a deposit below.
“We perform research globally as well,” Sanislav says. “We need to know what's happening around us, what other people are working on.
“We have projects in North Queensland, our backyard, but also South America, other parts of Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa.”
Sanislav is careful to say that research doesn’t provide certainties for companies.
“None of the answers we give are precise, mathematical answers," he says. "They are indicators.”
But for Sanislav, that is the appeal rather than the limitation. In a place he had never heard of before he applied for a PhD, the rocks are still handing him challenging – yet rewarding – questions to answer.