Metso has signed an agreement with the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) to engineer and deliver process technology for GTK Mintec’s new pilot plant in Outokumpu, Finland.
The facility, which will handle both minerals processing and materials for the circular economy, is expected to expand GTK’s research and service capabilities for the mining and minerals sector.
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The process lines were developed through cooperation with GTK specialists, and Metso will handle the delivery of the plant.
Metso has not disclosed the order value.
This order will be recorded in its Minerals segment order intake for the third quarter of 2026 (Q3 2026).
The pilot plant will support pilot-scale testing and optimisation of a variety of beneficiation technologies.
In addition to standard mineral processing technologies, the plant is set to feature systems aimed at reducing energy and water consumption.
GTK Mintec’s pilot plant is scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2028.
The facility will incorporate equipment such as high pressure grinding rolls, ore sorting devices, primary and fine grinding circuits, as well as coarse and fine flotation technologies.
Capabilities will also include multiple crushing, classification, flotation and physical separation solutions intended for material upgrading and recovery.
The plant will enable solutions piloting for side-stream processing, dry stacking of tailings, and the use of closed-loop water circuits with advanced treatment and filtration.
It will house two process lines with different throughputs.
This configuration will allow for both large-scale tests and smaller studies, such as those using drill core samples at the early exploration phase of mining projects.
Automation and digitalisation are planned features of the pilot plant, allowing test data to be collected throughout the operation. This approach is intended to speed up test result analysis, enhance the quality of collected data and offer customers more detailed reporting options.
Metso minerals president Piia Karhu said: “Metso and GTK have collaborated for decades in the research, testing and development of minerals processing solutions.
“The new GTK Mintec pilot plant in Outokumpu builds on this long-standing partnership and provides an excellent environment for developing and testing minerals processing and circular economy solutions that support the industry’s goals of improving resource and energy efficiency.”
Last month, Metso was chosen to supply multiple major process technology packages for Papua New Guinea’s New Simberi Gold Project Expansion.
