Metso Outotec wins deal for Nornickel’s Talnakh expansion
Finnish company Metso Outotec will deliver dewatering, flotation and automation equipment to Russian producer Nornickel for a planned expansion of its Talnakh processing plant that should make it the world’s largest concentrator for nickel sulfide ores.
Metso Outotec said the deal entails the delivery and installation of an automation system for the new line three flotation area, modernisation of three existing thickeners, and the delivery of over 100 TankCell flotation machines.
The equipment is scheduled to arrive by 2023, and Metso Outotec did not disclose any financial details of the order.
“The supply of leading-edge equipment from Metso Outotec for the existing line 2 and the new line 3 flotation section at the Talnakh concentrator will enable an increase in the amount of ore processed,” said Markku Teräsvasara, president, Minerals business area, Metso Outotec.
“We have collaborated with Nornickel on several projects to boost the throughput rates of their processing facilities, and we are grateful for having again been selected to provide reliable solutions for a project as significant as Talnakh. Metso Outotec has previously supplied comminution and ore processing solutions and equipment for the Talnakh Concentator lines 1 and 2.”
Nornickel revealed in 2019 that it planned to spend US$543 million on boosting the concentrator’s annual capacity to 18 million tonnes of ore from 10 million tonnes.
Upon the project completion, all of the ore mined at the Talnakh deposit will be processed at the Talnakh concentrator, which the company has said will improve overall recovery rates in the concentration process.
Having all of the Talnakh ores treated at a single concentrator will also free up the Norilsk concentrator capacity to treat the feed coming from the South Cluster project.
In 2017, Nornickel completed an initial Talnakh concentrator modernisation project in Russia for more than RUR47bn ($820m). Following that upgrade, the plant’s total throughput capacity increased more than 30% to 10.2Mtpa of ore.
Sergey Dubovitsky, Senior Vice President Strategy, Strategic Projects, Logistics & Procurement at Nornickel, commented: “The new equipment supply contract plays a crucial role for our expansion project – Talnakh Concentrator Line 3, which is a key step to deliver our strategy of sustainably producing metals required for the world economy to go greener”.
