Located in Pori, Finland, the refurbished laboratory has significantly increased its processing capacity and capabilities, including round-the-clock service, the company said.

"The number of minerals testing projects has increased steadily during recent years. The new facility enables us to better meet the needs of our customers, for example, by handling larger sample sizes, and boosts our capacity to serve also the expanding testing needs of the battery minerals sector," said Elina Wiik, manager of the Minerals Processing Laboratories at Metso.

The redesign has also enhanced efficiency and integrated "state-of-the-art equipment" and  "proper ventilation."

 As Wiik explained, the upgrades have also led to optimised workflows. "For instance, each Metso laboratory flotation cell is placed in a separate safety cabinet," she said. "This gives us the possibility to use a large number of flotation reagents and to perform complex separation tests for a wide range of samples and ore types."

The pinnacle of the renovation is a custom facility for safe, dry sample preparation, crushing, screening, and splitting.

Data collected from work at the minerals processing lab will be used to deliver optimised process flowsheets, allowing mining operations to improve recovery, resource efficiency and sustainability.

Copper concentrator

Earlier in the week, Metso was awarded a US$89.6 million (85M euros) copper concentrator contract with an unnamed company in Kazakhstan.

Under the agreement, Metso will deliver the main process equipment for grinding, flotation and dewatering.

Included in the deal are: HIGmill high-intensity grinding mills, TankCell flotation cells in the 30 to 630 cubic meter range, Larox PF pressure filters, HRT High-Rate Thickeners, an on-line sampling and analysing system, as well as field instrumentation and Proscon automation for the whole concentrator plant.