Geologist from UFMG (July 1979), MSc (1984) and PhD (1995) in Economic Geology and Prospecting from the University of Brasilia (with a PhD internship at the Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris VI, 1991), he has 45 years of experience in geological mapping, mineralogy, petrography, geochemistry and tectonics, including studies on graphite deposits, lithium and other high-tech minerals, minerals for the ceramics and glass industry, gems, pegmatites, granites, glaciogenic iron and orogenic gold in metasedimentary rocks, as well as research into the regional geology, geotectonics and evolution of the region covered by the states of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Bahia, and its correlations with Africa. He was awarded the ‘Silver Hammer’ (1988) and ‘Collaborator Emeritus’ (2016) prizes by the Brazilian Geological Society. He has coordinated and carried out projects funded by CNPq, CAPES, CODEMIG, CODEMGE, CPRM, CT-INFRA, CT-MINERAL, FINEP, FAPEMIG, FAPESP, PETROBRAS and various private companies, including geological mapping projects (1:100,000 and 1:50,000) that produced cartographic coverage of 400. 000 square kilometres in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, the ‘SIGA - Circuito das Águas de Minas Gerais’ project (CODEMGE) and the digital dissemination platform ‘Recursos Minerais de Minas Gerais On-Line’ (http://recursomineralmg.codemge.com.br/). As a Full Professor (retired) at UFMG and CNPq Researcher 1A, he works voluntarily on the UFMG Geology Postgraduate Programme. To date, he has published 145 articles in international and national scientific journals, 58 books and chapters, as well as around 300 papers and lectures at national and international scientific events; and he has participated in the supervision of 20 doctorates, 45 master's degrees and more than 100 undergraduate papers and scientific initiation scholarships. He has also worked as a consultant on the economic geology and prospecting of lithiferous pegmatites and graphite deposits.