Metso expands its process piloting capabilities in Finland

The unique pilot line serves mining and battery industry customers processing battery minerals. In connection with the expansion, Metso has also opened a battery materials precursor (pCAM) pilot plant, available now for customer trials.

“Pilot run requests for battery minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt have increased significantly during the last three years. Currently, we are working on several battery black mass recycling and precursor projects and have several lithium and other battery chemicals project pilots on our laboratory schedule,” says Janne Karonen, Director for Hydrometallurgical Research & Development at Metso.

Process simulations are essential in the piloting phase, supporting process and equipment design, training, and plant operation. For this purpose, Metso uses its unique metallurgical digital twin Geminex^TM, which is based on the company’s proprietary HSC-Sim software for predictive process simulations. Pilot plant and real-time plant data enrich the simulation model to accurately predict plant behaviour.

Metso has developed sustainable hard rock lithium soda leaching technologies for 20 years. The pilot facility expansion complements Metso’s frontrunning piloting capabilities for minerals processing and metals refining, enabling minerals and battery industry customers to have end-to-end testing, piloting services, and technology and equipment deliveries from one supplier.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/handling-processing/22092023/metso-expands-its-process-piloting-capabilities-in-finland/