Tag Archives: Metso

Sandfire welcomes new Larox filter press at Motheo copper mine

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, , , , , ,

Sandfire says it has successfully commissioned a Larox permanent filter press at its Motheo copper mine in Botswana, as part of a planned debottlenecking process.

On May 25, Sandfire announced that it had successfully produced first copper concentrate at Mothe, with construction of the mine nearing completion and equipment commissioning activities over 92% complete for the initial 3.2 Mt/y processing capacity.

During the initial ramp-up of the Motheo process plant in the September quarter of 2023, it was identified that the OEM filter press installed during construction was unable to achieve design parameters, the company explained in a July 22 release. An interim solution using mobile filter units was implemented, enabling the operation to safely ramp up the production of copper concentrate at planned rates and specifications.

In parallel, an $8 million capital investment secured the procurement, installation and commissioning of a Larox filter press from Metso to support the long-term operational requirements of Motheo.

Sandfire Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Brendan Harris, said: “Commissioning of the new filter press concludes a challenging period for the Motheo operations team, and I congratulate them on their hard work and ingenuity. The new filter press removes significant complexity at the ‘back end’ of our processing circuit and provides the capacity needed to test higher rates of production as we debottleneck the operation.”

Metso to deliver grinding plant equipment to South32’s Hermosa project

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Metso has been awarded orders for the delivery of grinding plant equipment for South32’s greenfield Hermosa project in the Patagonia Mountains in southern Arizona.

The order is booked in the Minerals segment’s 2024 June-quarter orders received, the OEM says.

Metso’s scope of delivery includes a Premier™ Primary Autogenous Grinding (AG) Mill and a Vertimill® VTM-4500 Secondary Grinding Mill with the potential to supply other comminution and beneficiation process equipment technologies.

Christoph Hoetzel, Senior Vice President, Grinding at Metso, said: “Metso’s broad grinding technology portfolio offers the best tool for the job. In this case, primary grinding utilising an AG Mill eliminates steel media usage and the Vertimill in secondary grinding and regrinding improves energy efficiency and reduces steel media consumption. This is a truly Planet Positive combination.”

Tim Robinson, Vice President, Minerals Sales in North and Central America (NCA) at Metso, said: “We are very pleased to be supporting South32 in their development focus to supply critical minerals like zinc and manganese in the USA. We are committed to supporting South32 in this endeavor with our Planet Positive offering and our large service group in Arizona.”

Earlier this year, South32’s Board of Directors gave final investment approval to develop the Taylor Deposit, part of the wider Hermosa project, as part of a $2.16 billion development involving a circa-4.3 Mt/y operation with average payable zinc-equivalent output of circa-253,000 t/y over a 28-year mine life.

Metso to deliver Planet Positive thickeners, filters to Peru mine water treatment project

Environmental, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Water management, , , , , ,

Metso has been awarded with a contract valued at around €15 million ($16 million) to deliver several thickeners and filters to a mine water treatment project in Peru.

Metso’s scope of delivery includes several high-rate thickeners operating in a high density sludge (HDS) mine water treatment application and automatic EBS series liquid filters with an electric self-cleaning mechanism for ultra-fine filtration.

The thickeners, which are part of Metso’s Planet Positive offering, include the Reactorwell™ feed system and are specially designed bolted stainless-steel construction for high corrosion resistance and fast installation, the company says.

Brian Berger, Vice President, Thickening and Clarification at Metso, said: “We are pleased to continue working with this important customer in Peru to support their needs in mine water treatment with our Planet Positive thickening solutions. The environmentally sound high-rate thickeners will have an important role in ensuring a reliable operation and meeting the customer’s project criteria for high performance, fast installation and low maintenance.”

Metso looks to boost Chile delivery performance and customer service with new service centre

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Metso has opened a new state-of-the-art distribution centre in Vina del Mar, Chile, to, it says, further improve its delivery performance and customer service.

The new centre will replace the unit that served the area. The modern centre will considerably increase Metso’s capability to deliver equipment, spare and wear parts and components, and will further strengthen the distribution and logistics network in Chile. The inauguration ceremony was held on June 6, 2024.

Eduardo Nilo, President, South America market area, Metso, said: “Our goal is to continuously improve customer satisfaction in all our activities and meet our customers’ expectations by providing market-leading solutions. Our target is to provide on-time delivery and increased service availability to ensure efficient and sustainable customer operations. The new distribution centre has a significantly larger storage capacity than our previous warehouse and it will strengthen the availability of critical spare and wear parts close to our customers in Chile and other countries in South America.”

The distribution centre is an example of how Metso can support the mining industry in moving towards the most advanced and sustainable practices, the OEM says. The facility operates primarily on renewable energy and uses sustainable packaging solutions, including returnable packaging and lighter plywood alternatives. Additionally, fully-electric vehicles and machinery complement this facility.

The distribution centre is located close to Metso operations in Concón, where the company has a modern rubber and Poly-Met factory and the recently inaugurated, unique circularity recycling solution for Megaliner™, Poly-Met™ and rubber liners.

Sami Takaluoma, President, Services business area, Metso, added: “The new distribution centre is Metso’s latest strategic investment for an important customer market and a concrete step towards our strategic target to become the preferred service provider in our industry. Our installed base in Chile and throughout South America is strong and the modern centre will strengthen our competitiveness as a provider of long-term service contracts.”

The new centre is operated by an external vendor, providing warehousing and efficient distributor support for Metso and its customers in the region.

Markku Eronen, Senior Vice President, Global Logistics Operations, Metso, said: “An efficient and optimised distribution centre network will increase availability, improve customer service and decrease CO2 emissions. We have distribution centres around the world, located close to customers utilising efficient and sustainable logistics routes. Our distribution centre strategy is based on utilising strong partners who have recognised global capabilities in providing competitive warehouse services. Their expertise enables us to further develop our customer service with maximum optimised reliability, safety and operative transparency.”

Metso to provide energy-efficient, sustainable precursor cathode active material production process

Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Mineral processing, Sustainable mining, , ,

Metso is launching the Metso pCAM plant, an intelligent Planet Positive-certified solution for the manufacturing of precursor cathode active material, which is needed in the production of lithium-ion batteries.

Centred around an energy-efficient pCAM reactor, PSI® 1000 particle size analyser and pCAM process control, Metso’s pCAM plant integrates advanced technology and decades of know-how to ensure an energy-efficient and sustainable production process, Metso says.

Mikko Rantaharju, Vice President, Hydrometallurgy at Metso, said: “The growing use of high-performance lithium-ion batteries with enhanced energy density, fast charging capabilities and improved safety features is driving the demand for high-quality and sustainable precursor materials. As a strong and reliable partner for the development of lithium hydroxide and other battery minerals projects, we are the first Western supplier able to also deliver an optimised pCAM plant for the manufacturing of premium precursor cathode active material.”

For active cathode precursor manufacturing, Metso’s offering ranges from optimised raw materials selection to design and delivery of the pCAM plant and related services, it says. The production process consists of metal sulphate feed preparation, co-precipitation of mixed metal hydroxide and filtration. The design of the OKTOP® reactor used in the process enables high throughput with a smaller footprint for batch, semi-batch and continuous operation with one reactor set-up, and improved yield thanks to advanced process control and on-line analysers.

To support the customers in optimised raw material selection and process design, Metso uses its own in-house pCAM process development, testing and pilot facilities. The Metso pCAM plants are Planet Positive-certified, ensuring low energy and water consumption. Rantaharju notes: “Based on Life Cycle Impact Assessment, we found that the Metso pCAM process features remarkable sustainability benefits – it reduced water consumption by circa-52% and CO2 emissions by circa-31%. Also, power usage decreased by circa-27%.”

Metso expands modular VSF X solvent extraction offering

Base metals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Sustainable mining, , , , ,

Metso has expanded its solvent extraction offering with a wider capacity range and improved features, and is now also introducing the VSF® X solvent extraction plant with extended scope.

The modular VSF X plant, part of Metso’s Planet Positive offering, allows copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese producers, among others, to purify desired metals from the leach solution in a safe and sustainable manner. The VSF X technology can also be used in battery black mass recycling processes.

Olli Siltala, Product Manager for the VSF X solvent extraction plants at Metso, said: “Solvent extraction is a crucial step in the production of essential battery metals and is gaining wider ground in hydrometallurgy applications. This is driven by the growing demand for higher purity metals and the increasing use of minerals to empower the energy transition. Our customers are seeking reliable and environmentally sound production processes with lower plant life cycle costs. Metso’s VSF X solvent extraction technology meets these needs and enables an efficient and economical solvent extraction process step for various orebodies and recycled battery black mass.”

Siltala added: “Metso is an expert one-stop shop for solvent extraction technology. We can provide customers with a tailormade production process based on professional testing and piloting. The modularised plant offers excellent scalability and high quality with fluent logistics and fast-track delivery. The integrated plant consists of Metso’s highly productised proprietary equipment, like the VSF X mixer-settler, VSF X organic and crud treatment unit; Dual Media, Activated Carbon and GM filters, as well as new digital products such as DispersionSense™ and OA Sense™ topped up with process guarantees. We can also provide a broad range of services along with digital solutions to ensure optimised lifecycle performance of the plants.”

Metso has been developing solvent extraction technologies and delivering both equipment and processes for several decades. VSF solvent extraction technology is used in the largest copper solvent extraction facilities across the globe, according to the company. It has over 50 operational references for the VSF solvent extraction plants and 10 for the modular VSF X plants.

Almalyk MMC

Metso and Almalyk MMC sign technology agreement for new copper smelter

Base metals, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , ,

Metso and JSC Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical company (Almalyk MMC) have signed a frame agreement on significant process technology deliveries for Almalyk MMC’s new copper smelter investment in Uzbekistan.

The companies have collaborated on the development of minerals processing and metallurgical operations since 2011, Metso says.

Equipment package contracts under the framework agreement will be booked once they have been signed and become effective. Metso says it estimates that the majority of those contracts will be signed this year. The frame agreement is a continuation of Metso’s and Almalyk MMC’s contract signed at the end of 2022 for the design and basic engineering work for the copper smelter.

The planned production capacity of the new copper smelter, which will be integrated with the company’s existing operations in Almalyk, is 300,000 t/y of copper cathodes and 1.8 Mt/y of sulphuric acid.

“We are very pleased to be selected as the strategic partner for Almalyk MMC’s smelter project,” Piia Karhu, President of Metso’s Metals business area, said. “Metso will provide Almalyk MMC with the most advanced sustainable Planet Positive technology for their copper refining processes.”

Almalyk MMC is the main copper producer in Uzbekistan. The company produces refined copper, gold, silver, zinc, molybdenum, lead concentrate and other products.

Metso brings new Nordberg HPe crusher to offering

Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, , , , ,

Metso is introducing the latest unit, the Nordberg® HP350e™, to its Nordberg HPe crusher series launched in 2023, saying the crusher offers enhanced performance, higher uptime, easier and safer maintenance, and a series of other improvements.

The Nordberg HPe crushers are engineered to meet the evolving and constantly increasing performance needs of the aggregates and mining industries, according to Metso, with the new Nordberg HP350e being the perfect choice for diverse rock processing operations.

Ilkka Somero, Product Manager of HP Cones at Metso’s Aggregates business area, said: “The launch of the Nordberg HPe crusher series during CONEXPO-CON/AGG trade show last year was a success, and now we are proud to bring to the market our latest addition to the series, the Nordberg HP350e cone crusher. Compared to the first crusher on the series, HP200e, the new crusher, HP350e, belongs to a larger size class of crushers. We are excited to expand the Nordberg HPe series to bring to the market a wider offering of these high-performance crushers fit for different production purposes.”

The Nordberg HP350e cone crusher offers several unique benefits, according to the company, including:

  • Enhanced performance;
  • New enhanced kinematics and more efficient chambers;
  • Up to 10% performance in secondary and tertiary application (as compared with the HP300);
  • Improved uptime and serviceability;
  • No-backing liners for quick, easier and safer liner change;
  • Head anti-spin brake extends liner wear life;
  • Optional ring bounce monitoring feature for active overload protection;
  • New feed cone lifting tool, for safe lifting and handling;
  • Wider application coverage;
  • Three alternative kinematics to choose from;
  • Alternative speeds;
  • Exceptionally wide chamber offering: 10 innovative application specific no-backing chamber designs for secondary, tertiary and quaternary stages; and
  • Efficient parts lifetime economy.

Fully covered aftermarket support as most parts are common between the earlier HP300 design and HP350e and the rest remain either interchangeable or upgradable, Metso says. Current HP300 owners can purchase Metso’s HPe upgrade kits, enabling economical access to some of the new HPe features, including enhanced kinematics, head anti-spin brake and ring bounce monitoring, as well as monitor and no-backing liners via head and bowl upgrade. If need be, the new HP350e can also use older-generation HP300 backing liners features.

Nordberg HPe series crushers will be also available as US-compliant Nordplant™ Pre-designed Crushing Modules. These modules provide convenient all-in-one delivery with quick assembly for replacing crushing stations or in new applications, the company says.

Furthermore, Metso is also introducing the first HPe series crusher on tracks for improved mobility. The Lokotrack® LT200HPX™ is equipped with a Nordberg HP200e cone crusher and a two-deck pre-screen with up to 40% higher capacity than the LT200HP.

The new HP350e is being showcased at AGG1 2024 at Metso’s booth, being held this week in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Metso opens its largest service centre in Karratha, Western Australia

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Metso says it has opened its largest service centre globally in Karratha, Western Australia, aiming to support the growing demand of customers’ needs, delivering more sustainable, state-of-the-art services to operators in the state.

Located in the Pilbara, the centre serves mining and aggregates customers with comprehensive maintenance and repair solutions, it said. The inauguration ceremony was held today on March 21, 2024.

Sami Takaluoma, President, Services business area, Metso, said: “The opening of the new centre is an important milestone and further proof of our commitment to accelerate strategic investments in serving customers from pit to port. Strengthening our presence to offer increased productivity, shorter lead times and environmental advantages will allow us to take service capabilities and customer experience to the next level.”

The Karratha Service Center, backed by an investment totaling approximately €32 million ($34.9 million), spans a 35,000 sq.m area, including a workshop covering 5,000 sq.m.

Equipped with high-capacity cranes, CNC machines, a heat treatment furnace, welding facilities and assembly stations, this centre has received significant customer support, Metso says. It will be able to service a wide range of heavy mining equipment, including crushers, screens, mills, HIG mills, high pressure grinding rolls and car dumpers, among others.

The centre also contributes to customers’ sustainability goals. By extending the operating life of assets, increasing energy and water efficiency and minimising plant downtime, Metso helps customers in achieving their environmental and safety objectives, it says. Further, by reducing the need for long-haul freight between Perth and the Pilbara region, the centre reduces carbon emissions and offers faster access to critical spare parts. This not only benefits the environment but also enhances operational efficiency.

Stuart Sneyd, President, Asia Pacific, Metso, said: “This is a long-term and significant commitment to the Pilbara region and the communities here. We are extremely pleased that our local customers are already expressing considerable interest and confidence in our services. Metso has a significant installed base of equipment and a strong reputation in Asia Pacific; every day over 900 processing plants rely on Metso’s technology. By utilising Metso’s service knowhow and expertise, genuine parts, exact materials and OEM specifications, customers will achieve significant business and sustainability benefits.”

The Karratha Service Center features a dedicated training facility, offering tailored programs to enhance the technical expertise of mining professionals, Metso says. The centre will provide long-term stable employment to skilled personnel from the local communities, including trades, service engineers and experts. An apprenticeship program targeting the local community is also planned for the centre. In Asia Pacific alone, Metso contributes to the creation of more than 1,250 jobs, which will be further strengthened with the opening of the Karratha Service Centre.

Metso to deliver VSF X solvent extraction tech to Chinese nickel plant

Base metals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Sustainable mining, , , , , ,

Metso says it has been awarded an order to deliver solvent extraction technology for a nickel plant in China; an order that usually banks the OEM revenue in the range of €15-20 million ($16.4-21.9 million).

Metso’s scope of delivery consists of the VSF® X solvent extraction process for the production of a battery-grade nickel sulphate solution.

In addition, Metso will deliver multiple polishing filters, a Courier® 6X HX analyser, as well as spare parts and advisory services. Prior to this order, Metso conducted the concept study and process test for the project. Basic engineering for the project is ongoing.

The modular Metso VSF (Vertical Smooth Flow) X plants offer lower lifetime costs, significantly shorter lead times, and sustainable Planet Positive life-cycle technology built on decades of experience in solvent extraction, Metso says. Metso’s offering includes optimised solutions, complete plants and services through innovative leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning technologies.