Metso Research and Testing: Providing solutions to customers’ challenges at Perth Technology Centre

Each research and testing project brings its own set of unique challenges, some of them site-related, and some related to the type of sample and the test conditions. The key to solving these obstacles is clear and honest communication between Metso technical experts and the customer.

One particularly memorable project was an integrated pilot plant that Metso set up and ran on Cockatoo Island, a remote island off the north-west of Western Australia. The pilot plant consisted of a high-intensity magnetic separation unit, concentrate and tails pilot thickeners and a belt filter for the concentrate.

Some of the unique challenges to this specific project were remote location, short project timeframe and the project environment. By collaborating closely with the customer, we were able to successfully tackle all three challenges.

Remote location

• The equipment could only be transferred to site on a barge.
• Personnel could only access the site via plane, four people at a time.
• Equipment needed to be packaged to fit on a barge.

Short timeframe

• The customer needed the pilot on site and operational in two months.

Environment

• High temperatures (35+^oC) and very high humidity (70%) making it challenging to maintain hydration.
• The water surrounding the island was full of crocodiles, sharks and a very large grouper.

Building trust with customer collaboration

Prior to testwork, we gather as much information as possible from the customer about their site condition and process flow sheet. This enables us to re-create their site conditions as closely as possible in the lab, which results in our testwork results being very accurate and representative of what the customer can expect to achieve on-site using Metso technologies.

Testwork is the key to any successful order of dewatering equipment. Our test results are used to generate accurate equipment sizing and to provide process performance guarantees. Most of our testwork comes from Greenfields projects, often during the early stages of flowsheet development, and we actively encourage our customers to come to our facility and see their samples being tested.

When we are conducting testing on customer sites there are often many curious visitors who come over to see what we are doing. This is great as it means that we can engage with many site personnel who may be influential in making decisions as the project progresses, or who will be operating the technologies in the field. Building these relationships is an important part of the Testwork Engineers’ role, as in many cases, they are the first Metso people that our customers meet face-to-face.

Exciting research and testing plans in Asia Pacific

With the recent acquisition of Swiss Tower Mills Minerals AG, Metso is looking forward to adding stirred mill testing to our capabilities. Stay tuned for future development!

Our Concorde Cell™ test unit is a state-of-the-art technology that captures previously unrecoverable ultra-fines in flotation applications. We are excited to conduct more testwork with the cell, to collect data and see how this could revolutionize the efficiency of flotation processes across a range of applications in the coming years.

Customer demand in Indonesia has resulted in Metso opening a new facility, the Jakarta Technology Centre, currently focusing on dewatering with plans to expand to stirred mills and flotation.