Magnetic Separation of Lunar Regolith as its Beneficiation for Construction Effort on the Moon

Abstract

A concept of magnetic separation of regolith for production of lunar aggregate is presented in the paper. Future construction effort on the Moon will require significant amounts of concrete-like composites. The authors formulate a hypothesis that magnetic separation of regolith would be a very efficient beneficiation procedure solving multiple civil engineering problems associated with properties of raw lunar soil. For the research program, 10 lunar soil simulants were used. The magnetic separation was feasible in majority of cases. Acquired lunar aggregate would be useful for both concrete-like composite production and covering the surface of a habitat. The aims of future research are pointed out in the paper.