DOCTORAL CANDIDATE
Josephine (Jo) Hoesel

SUPERVISORS
Pascale Aussillous, Aix Marseille Université (AMU)
Ass. Prof. Anja Slim, Monash University
Dr. Lucie Domino, Aix Marseille Université (AMU)
Dr. Margaux Le Vaillant, CSIRO Mineral

Over the last two decades, slow deformation of granular media has been well-characterized, and predictive continuum models are now established. However, an area awaiting further exploration is the interaction of two immiscible liquids with a granular medium. Adding a second liquid introduces the additional physical effects of interfacial tension and wetting behaviours that significantly alter both the fluid and granular dynamics.

These physical insights have critical implications for understanding geological systems — particularly the formation of mineral deposits. New discoveries of critical metals are urgently needed for the transition to renewable energy and finding them efficiently requires an understanding of the fundamental processes involved in their formation. One significant source of nickel, cobalt and platinum-group elements is in magmatic sulphide deposits. Sulphide-rich liquid preferentially absorbs various metals and interacts with silicate melts and silicate crystals in molten magma.

This project considers flows of two liquids (representing the silicate and sulphide liquids) through a granular material (representing the silicate crystals) to elucidate the mechanisms of valuable ore formation. We will use a combination of analogue experiments, classical modelling approaches from continuum mechanic and AI tools to extract trends from the data and create data-derived models.

The experimental components of this project are undertaken at the Laboratoire IUSTI at Aix-Marseille Université under the supervision of Prof Pascale Aussillous and Dr Lucie Domino. The modelling and data analysis components will be completed at Monash University under the supervision of A/Prof Anja Slim. Some application of the outcomes to magmatic sulphide deposits will be explored under the guidance of Dr Margaux Le Vaillant at CSIRO Mineral.