Barrick Gold Corporation has awarded Metso a major order for the supply of copper concentrator plant equipment to its Lumwana expansion project in North-Western Province in Zambia. Metso’s scope of delivery includes key equipment for grinding, flotation, thickening, feeding and filtration. The value of the order is approximately €70 million, and it is booked in the Minerals segment’s 2024 third-quarter order intake.

“We are honoured to have been selected by Barrick as the strategic partner for this project. The copper concentrate production process in Lumwana has been designed with sustainability and production efficiency in mind, with most of the equipment selected from our Planet Positive offering,” says Markku Teräsvasara, President of the Minerals business area and Deputy CEO of Metso.

Lumwana is a significant contributor in Barrick’s expanding copper portfolio, catering to the rapidly increasing demand for copper required for the energy transition. The project is also elemental in reviving Zambia’s copper industry and contributing to the local economy. The expansion will turn Lumwana into one of the world’s major copper mines, with projected annual production of 240,000 t/y of copper.

The expansion involves first doubling throughput by twinning the existing process circuit and then by significantly increasing mining volumes. Plant throughput will grow from the current 27 Mt to 52Mt. Commissioning of the new Barrick expansion project process plant is planned to start in the second half of 2027. Once the new process circuit is commissioned, the existing circuit will undergo a series of planned shutdowns, allowing Barrick to install upgrades, while ensuring uninterrupted copper delivery throughout the expansion.