Metso to deliver pressure filters to Chile
Salares Norte, a Chilean greenfield project of the South-African Gold Fields company, has ordered 3 Metso Vertical Plate Pressure Filters with all the ancillary equipment for dry tailings processing. The order has been booked in Metso’s Q2 orders received, and the filters are expected to be commissioned in October 2022. “The Salares Norte greenfield project is located 4500 m above sea level in the Andean Mountains, where water is scarce and needs to be used wisely. To minimize the use of water and improve the physical and chemical stability of our tailings, we have decided to adopt filtered tailings for the project. Salares Norte will be a benchmark plant for dry tailings processing,” explains Francois Swanepoel, Technical Manager at Salares Norte.
“Salares Norte has challenged its partners to come up with innovative tailings management solutions. The location of the plant at a height of almost 5 km above the sea level comes with its own unique challenges. For example, the design and transportation of the equipment as well as commissioning needs to be done with special care. To save manpower at such a high altitude, Metso will semi-assemble the filters in its Service Centers and deliver them in 6 specially designed easy-to-assemble modules to the site,” says Patricio Mujica Dominguez, Senior Manager, Mining Equipment at Metso.
