Freeport-McMoRan has awarded Metso an order for the delivery of a state-of-the art tankhouse material handling solution to its El Paso electrorefinery in Texas, USA.

The order, which comes with a value exceeding €10 million ($10.9 million), will see Metso deliver Outotec Anode Preparation and Cathode Stripping Machines, both based on proven design, ensuring high safety and long-term reliability, the company says. Both machines use modern robotic electrode handling to, Metso says, optimise layout and material handling efficiency in the existing refinery.

Mikko Rantaharju, Vice President, Hydrometallurgy business line at Metso, said: “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with Freeport-McMoRan with this important project. We are confident that our technology will ensure high efficiency and quality of copper production in the El Paso copper electrorefinery after the modernisation. The solution will combine our long-term experience of similar equipment with modern robot technology to fulfill the material handling requirement of the existing tankhouse.”

Metso says it is a leading tankhouse technology supplier for copper refineries, with its offering covering key equipment based on proprietary technology, as well as basic engineering, digital solutions and services.