a process for upgrading brown coal is disclosed , including providing at least two converging surfaces defining a nip , wherein at least one of the surfaces is rollable in a direction toward the nip ; feeding the brown coal to the nip where , by the rolling action of the rollable surface , the brown coal is subjected to shearing stresses , causing attritioning of the microporous structure of the brown coal and the release of water contained in the micropores ; and continuing the shearing attritioning until the brown coal forms into a plastic mass . processes for the production of char are also disclosed utilizing as feed material pellets formed from the upgraded brown coal produced by the above process , as well as a process for recovering metal from a metal containing material .