George Barakos is coming from Greece. He holds a diploma and a M.Sc. degree in Mineral Resources Engineering from the Technical University of Crete. He also holds a PhD degree in Mining Engineering from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. George is currently working as a research associate and post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Underground Mining Methods of the Institute of Mining at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. His teaching and research interests are in the area of mine design and planning, technical, economic and environmental valuation of strategic metal deposits and mineral economics especially of critical raw materials. A big part of his research is devoted to the mineability and economic feasibility of rare earth element deposits. George has published a number of papers in the field and is also working with the European Commission for the determination of the Critical Raw Materials List. He is also a member of international associations such as the Society of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers (SME) and the Society of Mining Professors (SOMP).