Dr Nilo Karimian

I am a Research Scientist at CSIRO Mineral Resources with a PhD in Environmental Geochemistry and Mineralogy from Southern Cross GeoScience, SCU, where I was honored with the Southern Cross University Chancellor’s Medal for my outstanding PhD thesis.
My research integrates geochemistry, mineralogy, and microbiology to investigate the environmental mobility and speciation of metalloids such as antimony and arsenic in soil-water systems. My findings contribute to understanding contaminant transport across landscapes and developing cost-effective remediation strategies for contaminated soils and sediments.
I am particularly passionate about unraveling the complex interactions between mineralogy, microbiology, and trace metalloid geochemistry using advanced analytical techniques. My work explores how mineral formation and evolution influence the geochemical behavior of trace metals and metalloids in both natural and synthetic systems.
A key focus of my research is the application of cutting-edge synchrotron-based techniques, particularly X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS), to study mineral dissolution and transformation processes under varying pH and redox conditions. I also employ a broad suite of wet chemistry and spectroscopy methods, including synchrotron-based XAS and Atom Probe Tomography, to examine changes in iron, sulfur, manganese, antimony, arsenic, and chromium in diverse mineralogical environments.
In my current role at CSIRO, I am carrying out innovative research to resolve the invisible phosphorus puzzle in iron ore which is a critical step in unlocking the economic potential and reducing the carbon intensity of iron ore processing.