Tag Archives: Jari Ålgars

Metso Outotec to supply equipment for Boliden’s Green Zinc Odda project

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Metso Outotec says it has been awarded a contract for the delivery of key technology to the Boliden Odda zinc smelter expansion in western Norway.

Approximately 90% of the €150 million ($170 million) contract has been booked in the company’s Metals Q4/2021 orders received and the rest in Minerals Q4/2021 orders received.

With the expansion, Boliden Odda is planning to increase its annual production capacity of zinc metal from 200,000 t to 350,000 t. Several by-products will also be produced.

The project is called “Green Zinc Odda”, and its energy consumption is based on fossil-free energy.

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery includes roasting and off-gas cleaning solutions and a sulphuric acid plant, with the OEM also supplying hydrometallurgical equipment and technology for calcine leaching, solid liquid separation, solution purification, as well as process and plant engineering and site services. The deliveries are set to take place in 2022-2024.

Jari Ålgars, President, Metals business area at Metso Outotec, said: “The Green Zinc Odda project paves the way for more sustainable zinc production and is yet another important milestone in the many years of collaboration between Boliden and Metso Outotec.”

Metso Outotec to supply VSFX tech for Li-Cycle battery recycling plant

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Metso Outotec says it has signed an agreement with Li-Cycle North America Hub Inc for the supply of manganese, cobalt, and nickel solvent extraction technology for a battery recycling plant to be built in Rochester, New York in the US.

The contract value, which is not disclosed, has been booked in the Metals December quarter 2021 orders received.

The Metso Outotec delivery includes three modular VSF®X solvent extraction plants and related Dual Media Filters, and basic engineering.

Jari Ålgars, President of the Metals business area at Metso Outotec, said: “We are looking forward to working with Li-Cycle on this battery recycling project. The energy-efficient, modular VSFX solvent extraction plant, which is part of our Planet Positive product range, reduces emissions and is safe to operate. The Li-Cycle project will be an important new reference for Metso Outotec in the battery recycling business.”

Metso Outotec VSFX solvent extraction tech set for Taseko’s Florence Copper Project

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Metso Outotec has signed an agreement with Florence Copper Inc, a subsidiary of Taseko Mines Ltd, to supply copper solvent extraction and electrowinning technology for a plant to be built in Arizona, USA.

The order, exceeding €20 million ($24 million), has been booked in the Metals’ segment September quarter orders received.

The Metso Outotec delivery includes the modular VSF®X solvent extraction plant and the main process equipment for the electrowinning plant.

“We are very excited to have purchased the key SX/EW process equipment from Metso Outotec, a world leader in mineral processing and hydrometallurgical technologies,” Stuart McDonald, President and CEO of Taseko Mines, says. “The VSFX technology is ideally suited for our Florence Copper Project, which is set to become one of the most energy-efficient and low-carbon copper producers in the world. The modular nature of the equipment will reduce construction time and allow Florence to commence copper production quicker than with other technologies available.”

Back in February, Taseko, having just completed a $400 million bond refinancing and fundraising program, said it was moving forward with developing a commercial operation at its Florence in-situ recovery project.

Jari Ålgars, President of the Metals business area at Metso Outotec, says: “We are looking forward to working with Taseko Mines on the Florence Copper Project. The energy-efficient VSFX solvent extraction plant, which is part of our Planet Positive product range, reduces emissions and is safe to operate. The Florence Copper Project will become an important new reference for Metso Outotec in the US copper market as a supplier of a complete production plant that uses solvent extraction and electrowinning technology for copper recovery.”

Metso Outotec to provide copper smelting engineering, tech to PT Freeport’s Manyar project

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Metso Outotec has signed a major engineering and technology contract as well as licence agreements for the delivery of what it says is a landmark copper smelter complex to be built in Gresik, East Java, in Indonesia.

The project owner is PT Freeport Indonesia, with PT Chiyoda International Indonesia being the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Four-fifths of the approximately €360 million ($424 million) contract has been booked in the company’s Metals’ September quarter order intake and the rest in Minerals’ September quarter order intake, it said.

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery is based on the licensed Metso Outotec Flash Smelting, Flash Converting and Lurec® technology. It includes the design and supply of key process equipment and process control systems for the main areas of the smelter complex, the copper electrolytic refinery, the gas cleaning and sulphuric acid plant, the slag concentrator and the effluent treatment plant.

Metso Outotec has previously provided certain front-end engineering design and other advance engineering services for this 1.7 Mt/y copper concentrate smelter complex, which is expected to be commissioned in 2024. According to PT Freeport, the Manyar smelter will be the largest copper processing site in the world upon start up.

Pekka Vauramo, President & CEO, Metso Outotec, said: “Our joint efforts with Freeport Indonesia and Chiyoda will set a new standard for the copper smelter industry in fulfilling the strictest international environmental standards and efficiency requirements. We are very happy to work together to implement this game changing copper smelter.”

Jari Ålgars, President, Metals business area at Metso Outotec, added: “We have worked with Freeport Indonesia and Chiyoda for several years to ensure and select the best available process design and technologies for the Manyar project.”

Metso Outotec has delivered 51 Copper Flash Smelters around the world, with the company’s Copper Flash Smelting the most widely applied technology for copper smelting in the world, it said. The solution is also one of its Planet Positive solutions. Using this technology, Metso Outotec’s customers avoided more than 1.6 Mt of CO2 emissions in 2020, the company said.

Metso Outotec to deliver first integrated beneficiation and pelletising plant

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Metso Outotec says it has signed a landmark contract for the delivery of an iron ore beneficiation and travelling grate pelletising plant to Africa.

While the parties have agreed to not disclose the value of the contract, the scope of delivery includes the engineering and supply of key process equipment for the beneficiation and pelletising plant.

In addition, Metso Outotec will provide site supervision and commissioning services and deliver automation and training for the project, which the OEM conducted early engineering works for in 2020.

“This new greenfield plant is the first integrated beneficiation and pelletising plant we are delivering globally,” Jari Ålgars, President, Metals business area, said. “It will feature Metso Outotec’s sustainable proprietary technology, such as Low NOx burners to minimise emissions in the process, as well as state-of-the-art digital solutions, including our Optimus™ process optimiser and a green pellet-size control system.”

Metso Outotec to deliver India’s first large scale Grate-Kiln iron ore pellet plant

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Metso Outotec has signed a contract with an Indian customer for the supply of a large capacity Grate-Kiln pellet plant in the State of Odisha, India.

The contract is booked in the Metals business line March quarter orders received. Typically, the value for this type of an order is in the range of €30-40 million ($35.6-47.5 million), depending on the scope of delivery.

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery includes basic engineering and process technology for the Grate-Kiln pellet plant, including the core proprietary equipment consisting of traveling grate, kiln and cooler, as well as supervisory services for commissioning, and spare parts.

“The energy-efficient Metso Outotec Grate-Kiln process produces pellets of uniform quality with low emissions, high availability, and it has low investment and operating costs,” Jari Ålgars, President, Metals business area at Metso Outotec, said. “With its annual pellet production capacity of 6 Mt, the new plant will be the first large scale Grate-Kiln pellet plant in the country.”

Metso Outotec completes divestment of aluminium business to REEL International

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Metso Outotec has completed the divestment of its aluminium business to REEL International, headquartered in France.

The divestment to REEL was announced on December 28, with the divested business comprising equipment and plant solutions to green anode plants, anode rodshops, and casthouses used in aluminium smelters, as well as the related services.

Metso Outotec will continue to serve its customers in certain other parts of the aluminium value chain, such as alumina refinery and petroleum coke calcination technologies, it said.

Jari Ålgars, President of Metals business area, Metso Outotec, said: “I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to the Aluminium team for its contribution to Metso Outotec and for the hard work to ensure a smooth transfer of the business. I wish the team great success under its new ownership at REEL.”

Metso Outotec completes Metals business reorganisation

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Metso Outotec says it has completed the reorganisation of its Metals business as part of the turnaround program announced in the December quarter of 2020. As a result, the segment’s operational model has been adjusted to “better meet customer needs, as well as the scale and nature of the business today”.

When the negotiations related to the reorganisation started on December 9, 2020, the estimated need for reduction was a maximum of 160 permanent redundancies in the Metals operations globally, including up to 60 redundancies in Finland.

As a result of the negotiations, approximately 100 jobs will be reduced globally, including 15 in Finland. Most of the global reductions are through redundancies and the rest through other arrangements, such as retirements, non-renewal of fixed-term contracts, and voluntary resignations, the company said. In addition, over 50 employees who were in the scope of the Metals reorganisation will continue in Metso Outotec in other parts of the company.

Jari Ålgars, President, Metals business area at Metso Outotec, said: “The reorganisation of the Metals business aims for annual savings of €15 million ($18.1 million). During the negotiations, we carefully evaluated all opportunities with the target to find the best possible options to meet the needs of our customers and employees. The now completed reorganisation empowers the Metals business lines for efficient use of resources and faster decision making.”

Metso Outotec books zinc plant order as it agrees sale of aluminium business

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Metso Outotec has signed a contract to deliver a complete package of key process equipment for a greenfield zinc plant in the Chelyabinsk region in Russia.

The contract value of approximately €100 million ($122 million) has been booked in Metso Outotec’s Decemeber quarter order intake, a quarter of which will be booked in Minerals segment and the rest in Metals segment.

The order for the Verkhny Ufaley plant includes an equipment package for zinc concentrate processing, iron precipitation, solution purification and electrowinning (EW) technologies for safe and sustainable zinc processing based on OKTOP® reactor and plant products.

The order also contains a circuit heat recovery system, zinc EW and ingot casting equipment, as well as high-efficiency cooling towers for zinc EW and gypsum removal with drastically reduced emissions compared with conventionally-designed cooling towers, the company said. Clarifying solutions for consistent solid-liquid separation, high-performance Larox® FP and RB filters with low energy consumption, as well as fully integrated digital process automation for more reliable and flexible operation are also part of the order.

“Metso Outotec has been supplying minerals processing and metals refining technologies to our customers in Russia for a long time,” Jari Ålgars, President, Metals business area at Metso Outotec, said. “The new zinc plant will utilise Metso Outotec’s proprietary technology, which is both sustainable and highly cost effective.”

Stephan Kirsch, President of the Minerals business area at Metso Outotec, added: “Metso Outotec provides leading-edge technology for extensive zinc processing plants. This includes proprietary process equipment and know-how from raw material to final zinc product and various by-products.”

The technology to be delivered is the most cost-efficient technology available for zinc raw material processing, enabling efficient zinc and by-product recovery from a wide range of primary zinc raw material, according to Metso Outotec.

In a separate press release, Metso Outotec announced it had agreed to sell its Aluminium business to REEL International, headquartered in France. The business was put up for sale a year ago and has since been reported under the company’s discontinued operations.

The business to be divested comprises of green anode plants, anode rodshops, and casthouses used in aluminium smelters as well as related equipment and services. Approximately 120 Metso Outotec employees will join REEL upon closing, which is expected to take place during the March quarter of 2021, Metso Outotec said.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the transaction.

Metso Outotec to reorganise Metals business

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Metso Outotec says it is reorganising its Metals business as part of an earlier announced turnaround program.

The target is to create an operational model for Metals capital and services that “suits the scale and nature of the business today” and meets the specific demands of the Metals refining segment customer base, it said.

Jari Ålgars, President, Metals business area at Metso Outotec, said: “The restructuring and turnaround program aims to improve Metals’ competitiveness and financial performance as well as ensure more granular management of the various businesses and resources. The restructuring will enable us to size and scope our offering and resources in a more efficient way.”

Around 1,100 employees working with the Metals capital and service business around the world are within the scope of the restructuring program. According to the plans, restructuring is estimated to lead to a maximum of 160 redundancies in the Metals operations globally, corresponding to targeted savings of €15 million ($18 million). These figures include personnel working in Finland, where the number of redundancies is estimated to be 60 employees at most.

The impact of the restructuring on different employee groups will be determined during the March quarter of 2021, the company said, adding that actions will be taken in compliance with local employment legislation in the countries in question.