Person:
León Cortegano, Rafael

Profile Picture

Email Address

Birth Date

First Name

Rafael

Last Name

León Cortegano

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/10272/28663

Department

Ciencias de la Tierra

Research group

Center

Identifiers

Catalogue UHUORCIDScopus Author IDWeb of Science ResearcherIDDialnet IDGoogle Scholar IDResearchGate ID

Biography

Rafael León Cortegano is a researcher specialising in environmental geochemistry and mineral resources. He has a distinguished track record in studying rare earth elements (REE) and remediating acid mine drainage. He is currently a member of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Huelva, where his research focuses on the potential of acid waters and mine waste as secondary sources of critical raw materials, as well as the development of technologies for treating acid leachates. He obtained his PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Huelva in 2023 with international distinction and cum laude. Funded by an FPI grant from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness within the SCYRE project, his thesis analysed the geochemistry of scandium, yttrium and REEs in acid mine drainage from the Iberian Pyrite Belt. This research made a significant contribution to our understanding of these elements in contaminated mining environments. This research earned him the 'Extraordinary PhD Award' in the sciences branch from the University of Huelva. Prior to completing his PhD, he completed a degree in Geology at the University of Huelva, receiving the 'Extraordinary End-of-Degree Award'. He also completed two master’s degrees: one in Water Resources and the Environment at the University of Málaga and another in Geology and Environmental Management of Mineral Resources at the University of Huelva. Throughout his career, he has participated in European and national projects such as SCYRE, SUMREE, PG2CRM, RESTOREHU and TRAMPA. His medium- and long-term research interests focus on sustainable methods for recovering critical raw materials from mining waste and developing environmentally friendly technologies for environmental remediation. His goal is to promote more sustainable mining practices through innovation and applied research.

Keywords

Geoquímica
Hidrogeoquímica
Hidrología
Mineralogía
Drenaje Ácido de Mina
Tierras Raras
Geología ambiental
Ríos Tinto y Odiel

Research lines

Mineralogía
Geoquímica ambiental

Unesco subjects

2506 Geología
2503 Geoquímica
3308 Ingeniería y Tecnología del Medio Ambiente