NextOre Ltd says it has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement and a share subscription agreement with Gebr. Pfeiffer, a leading German comminution technology company.
Pfeiffer is a family-owned business with a 159-year history of innovation, specifically in mill technologies. Importantly, Pfeiffer is aligned with NextOre’s mission to deliver sustainable breakthroughs in processing technologies, NextOre says.
Under the strategic cooperation agreement, NextOre and Pfeiffer will collaborate to explore opportunities to combine their respective technologies to drive a step-change in efficient, environmentally-friendly minerals processing using:
- NextOre’s magnetic resonance sensors and real-time bulk ore sorting to allow companies to achieve more metal production from smaller plants with lower environmental impact; and
- Pfeiffer’s innovative vertical roller mill technology for dry grinding, which, it says, provides a substantial benefit in energy saving, delivers a uniform size reduction with a narrow particle size distribution, provides a high reduction size ratio of up to 1,000 and is highly flexible.
The first focus of NextOre and Pfeiffer’s collaboration will be on an integrated iron ore sorting and grinding solution for Brazil and Australia iron ore producers. NextOre and Pfeiffer have also identified a portfolio of copper projects that could see particularly strong results from the application of the two companies’ proprietary technologies to overcome their specific challenges.
Under the share subscription agreement, Pfeiffer has invested A$5 million ($3.2 million) through a placement of ordinary shares.
Pfeiffer’s investment follows NextOre’s successful completion of a A$5.2 million funding campaign in July 2023, which was underpinned by RFC Ambrian’s QCM fund – leaving the company well-funded to execute on its growth plans.
NextOre CEO, Chris Beal (above on the left), said: “We are delighted to welcome Gebr. Pfeiffer, a business with a long history of excellence supporting heavy industries, as a strategic partner and valued shareholder and look forward to creating real and sustained value as we advance the NextOre technology.
“We are excited at the opportunity to combine NextOre’s leading technology with Pfeiffer’s dry grinding technology, which is seeing rapid adoption into leading miners’ feasibility studies and which we see as a game changer for environmental sustainability.
“NextOre is undergoing a phase of significant growth. Pfeiffer’s investment in our business is a strong endorsement of NextOre’s magnetic resonance technology and recognition of its game-changing potential in the global resources industry.
“Like Pfeiffer, we are committed to creating solutions that our customers can rely on. We are excited to further prove NextOre’s real-world applications through this collaboration.”
Gebr. Pfeiffer’s CEO, Mathias Dülfer (above on the right), said: “Rising energy costs coupled with declining ore grades and the need for improved sustainability require new process technology. We are pleased to announce our partnership with NextOre to provide solutions that together can set a new standard.
“By investing in NextOre, a company that has developed this innovative and ground-breaking ore sensing technology over many years, we are building a strong foundation for a collaboration that will add sustainable value to the mining industry.
“The combination of Pfeiffer’s dry grinding technology for minerals with NextOre’s upstream sorting technology complements each other to increase production efficiency while reducing consumption of natural resources.
“Pfeiffer’s way of working has led to many breakthrough innovations that have resulted in our leading vertical mills. The cooperation with NextOre is another important milestone in this regard and a further contribution to the expansion of our mining activities. This is a consistent continuation of our strategic focus on efficiency, sustainability and digitisation.”
