Dr Joshua RaseraMineral Processing & Resource SystemsWhat makes one particle behave differently from another, and how can we use that difference?
My research combines experiments, discrete element modelling and flowsheet thinking to develop dry processing methods. The goal is to understand separation performance in the context of water, energy and material constraints.
Explore how particle properties can enrich a mineral fraction: from contact charging and electrostatic separation to terrestrial dry beneficiation.
Includes the contact-charging and free-fall separation demonstration.
Explore mineral enrichment ↗Look inside shaken Apollo regolith and simulants, and explore how differences in particle size influence granular segregation.
Includes the Brazil nut effect demonstration.
Explore size classification ↗Looking for terrestrial dry processing? Explore material characterisation, separation testing and flowsheet evaluation ↗
Valuable minerals come mixed with other material. Before extraction, we need to understand and prepare that feed.
Beneficiation changes the composition or properties of a feed by separating particles. It can mean enriching a mineral fraction, classifying material by size, or removing material that complicates downstream processing.
I focus on physical separation and dry beneficiation: using differences in particle behaviour while reducing reliance on water. Lunar processing takes those constraints further, raising questions about vacuum, gravity, dust and material handling.
Physical experiments connect design choices to particle charging, movement and separation.
Micro-CT reveals internal arrangements that a surface photograph cannot explain.
Particle-scale and mechanistic models help investigate why a material responds as it does.