Wet and Stressed - Nature's mechanisms for leaching and remobilising metals

Much of Australia's mineral wealth is the result of the interaction of warm fluids with rocks deep within the Earth over geological timescales. At a fundamental level, the formation of an ore deposit is governed by the physical chemistry of mineral dissolution and crystallization, and by fluid flow through porous rocks and fractures. The same principles can be applied for innovative recovery of the metals via in-situ mining or hydrometallurgy. This project is devoted to understanding the chemical and physical processes that govern reactive transport and metal scavenging in rock-dominated environments, and how this knowledge can be applied to improve mineral exploration, mining, and processing.