FLSmidth announced in February that it was intending to acquire IMP, which engineers automated sampling, sample preparation and analysis solutions, based on a combination of increased exploration activity and the automation trend within the mining sector.

Back then, FLSmidth president of mining, Manfred Schaffer, said, due to declining ore grades, knowing your ore characteristics from the mine to the processing plant is of increasing importance; thus, productivity needs to be boosted by process optimisation.

The IMP business has been consolidated into FLSmidth June 1 onwards, brining with it more than 130 employees, including IMP's managing director Boyne Hohenstein.

Tina Knudsen, general manager for sampling, preparation and analysis - mining at FLSmidth, said, with the addition of IMP, the engineering company can now start its next stage of product development.

"The benefits of the joint portfolio are immediately available to our customers, and our pipeline is strong. We are confident that our product offering covering manual and automated sampling and laboratory solutions can open new doors with our mining customers worldwide," she added.

"We also see great potential from the joining of our new colleagues to further enhance the development of our digital solutions for mining.

"For instance, data collected from online analysers and the laboratory can be used to optimise the entire flow sheet for mining operations. Using this data to augment our process optimisation initiatives is an exciting prospect."

In February, the companies said they would not disclose the terms of the transaction.