Metso says it has signed a two-year Life Cycle Services (LCS) contract with Ma’aden’s Base Metals and New Minerals company’s new gold processing plant at the Mansourah & Massarah site in Saudi Arabia.

Metso will support the customer in commissioning, ramping up and optimising the new greenfield site, covering both maintenance and plant operations, it says. Other elements of the agreement are field services and recommendations for wear and spare parts management, and advisory and training services.

The agreement demonstrates Metso’s service expertise, and it is an important continuation of the greenfield mineral concentrator and gold processing plant agreement signed in 2019, it said. This contract, related to Outotec at the time, saw a consortium of Outotec and Larsen & Toubro awarded with an engineering, procurement and construction contract to build a greenfield mineral concentrator and gold processing plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Mansourah & Massarah operation has been built in the Central Arabian gold region, with the processing plant capable of up to 4 Mt/y throughput. The concentrator and the gold processing plant has been designed to produce an average of 250,000 oz/y of gold over the life of mine.

The customer has the option to extend the contract by one year.

Kamal Pahuja, President Middle East and India market area, Metso, said: “We are very delighted with the customer’s continued trust in Metso. By choosing Metso’s Life Cycle Services contract, Ma’aden will receive comprehensive and top-notch service solutions as well as on-site technical expertise and support. We are committed to safety and sustainability objectives and will work with and support the customer in achieving their operational objectives. We are also committed to strengthening our service capabilities in the region to serve the growing customer base.”

Duncan Bradford, Executive Vice-President, Ma’aden Base Metals and Minerals BU, said: “Our aim is to lift the productivity of the new plant to the target level, strengthen the skills of our Saudi employees, and achieve our production and safety targets. The new plant will use three different methods of gold processing, including the first autoclave in Saudi Arabia; this requires a lot of know-how and proactive planning for trouble-free operation and maximum productivity. Metso already has a comprehensive range of key equipment for the plant flowsheet, and we will be able to benefit from Metso’s technological and service expertise.”