Metso Outotec has consolidated its minerals testing services in the United States into a single 5,500 m3 facility located in York, Pennsylvania. The test center capabilities will be continuously developed with the goal of covering the full minerals value chain to support the mining industry worldwide.
With the increase in testing activity, particularly over the last 12 months, the company wanted more space and to consolidate testing operations in one place. It will be able to do more linked and pilot-scale tests.
“The test center in York specializes in standard and proprietary grinding tests in both laboratory and pilot scale, focusing also on grinding R&D in close co-operation with our office in York. The addition of pyro testing capabilities allows us to run calcining, induration, and drying tests, too. Currently, we are also building new capabilities for bench and laboratory scale thickening and filtration tests,” explains Alan Boylston, director, process engineering at Metso Outotec.
“Accurate equipment selection with the appropriate process guarantees requires us to focus in on the details of each customer test program. With the expanded equipment and automation capabilities, we can now do, for example, Planet Positive flowsheet tests with pilot-scale HRC 800e high pressure grinding roll (HPGR) and follow immediately with Vertimill grinding and filtration testing,” says test center manager Mike Price.
“The test center is equipped to find the most suitable and energy efficient solution for any project by performing comparative tests between Metso Outotec’s comprehensive range of fine grinding mills including Vertimill, HIGmill, and stirred media Detritor (SMD) grinding mills,” added Price.
Metso Outotec offers a unique portfolio of testing expertise and circuit simulation to the mining industry. The recently introduced Geminex digital twin allows Metso Outotec to effectively simulate and test alternative operational scenarios and parameters based on accurate process models and real data. Combined with the extensive testing capabilities provided by the company’s global network of minerals test facilities, this allows mining customers to make sound investment decisions as well as use their resources in an optimal way.
The Metso Outotec global network of minerals testing facilities covers the whole process from comminution through separation to filtration, refining, and pyro processing. The main test centers are in the U.S., Brazil, Chile, Peru, Finland, and Australia. In addition, Metso Outotec carries out individual tests at several other locations.