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The new pilot plant for minerals processing and circular economy materials will significantly expand GTK’s research and service offering for the mining and minerals industry.
The process lines have been designed in close collaboration with GTK experts, while Metso will be responsible for the plant delivery. The value of the order, which is not disclosed, is booked in the Minerals segment’s 2026 third-quarter orders received.
“GTK Mintec is one of our strategic spearheads. The minerals processing research services play an important role in advancing the circular economy. The renewal work is progressing well, and this agreement represents a significant step forward in strengthening the services offered to industry,” says GTK’s Director General Saku Vuori.
"Metso and GTK have collaborated for decades in the research, testing and development of minerals processing solutions. The new GTK Mintec pilot plant in Outokumpu builds on this long-standing partnership and provides an excellent environment for developing and testing minerals processing and circular economy solutions that support the industry's goals of improving resource and energy efficiency," says Piia Karhu, President, Minerals at Metso.
Versatile pilot environment for large-scale beneficiation technology testing
The new pilot plant will provide a modern environment for pilot-scale testing and optimization of process technologies. In addition to conventional beneficiation technologies, the facility will enable the development and testing of energy-efficient solutions that reduce water and chemical consumption. These include High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR), ore sorting, primary grinding circuits, fine grinding technologies, and both coarse and fine flotation applications. The pilot plant will also include a broad range of crushing, classification, grinding, flotation and physical separation technologies for material upgrading and recovery.
In addition, the pilot plant will enable the piloting of solutions for side-stream processing, dry stacking of tailings, and closed-loop process water circuits utilizing advanced water treatment and filtration technologies.
Two process lines with different capacities will be constructed at the facility. This will enable both larger-scale plant testing and smaller-scale test work, such as studies conducted using drill core samples during the early stages of mining projects.
The new pilot plant will also feature an advanced digitalization and automation environment in which process data is automatically collected from equipment and measurement points throughout the plant. This will accelerate the analysis of test results, improve data quality, and provide customers with more comprehensive reporting capabilities.
GTK Mintec’s new pilot plant will start operations by the end of 2028. Once completed, it will further strengthen GTK Mintec’s position as an internationally recognized developer of circular economy and minerals processing solutions.
Metso is a frontrunner in sustainable technologies, end-to-end solutions and services for the aggregates, minerals processing and metals refining industries globally. We improve our customers’ energy and water efficiency, increase their productivity, and reduce environmental risks with our product and service expertise. We are the partner for positive change.
Metso is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. At the end of 2025 Metso had close to 18,000 employees in around 50 countries, and sales in 2025 were about EUR 5.3 billion. Metso is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.
Contact: Mikko Rantamäki, Senior Sales Director, Integrated Solutions, Europe and Central Asia
T: +358 400 259 544 - E: mikko.rantamaki[.]metso.com.
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