FILTRATION & THICKENING
“ We’ re proud to celebrate this milestone and grateful for our customers’ trust and our team’ s commitment to innovation and exceptional customer service,” says Leena Tanttu, Director, Process and Testing of Filtration business line at Metso.“ Our Dewatering Technology Center offers comprehensive testing capabilities from bench scale to pilot scale, supporting efficient and sustainable flowsheet development, reflecting Metso’ s long-term dedication to filtration technology.”
Metso says its unique filtration expertise is built on over a century of innovation, research, and deep process knowledge. This legacy is strengthened by the advanced capabilities of the DTC, plus comprehensive filtration testing in 14 locations around the world, and a robust service network with approximately 140 locations. Earlier this year, Metso opened a cutting-edge Dewatering Development Hub in Irapuato, Mexico, expanding Metso’ s existing filtration manufacturing footprint across Finland, India, and China.
At the new hub, Metso produces polymer filter plates for sub-assemblies and new filtration equipment by Metso and other suppliers, and it is equipped with extensive product development capabilities.
The Metso filtration portfolio consists of 16 filter types and comprehensive services for various mining and industrial applications, with more than 5,000 installations globally.
For more on its testing capabilities, we spoke to Leena Tanttu – she had this to say on the process:“ We do extensive testing to give us a good handle of the material specifications and we since we have many different technologies, we also have test filters for all 16 of those technologies. Then we have different sizes depending on customer and project, ranging from bench and lab scale to pilot scale. Typically, we might test three different technologies in order to find the best solution for the customer. This is based on a strong background of filtration dating back to 1977 with Larox ®. We have the database including over 15,000 customer cases, all backed up by 14 filtration test labs all over the world in different market areas. For mining especially, key test centres include Peru, Chile and Brazil in South America plus elsewhere South Africa, Australia, India, China, Canada and Kazakhstan. And of course the DTC in Finland.”
She adds:“ Filters are sized based on certain availability as well as consideration of certain availabilities in the process. We look at multiple targets from the customers to optimise the filter design in a number of ways for each project. Once the filter is installed, and if there are challenges in the process, we can bring a test filter on site and determine what the optimal cycles would be. The process optimisation continues with regular audits as well as increasingly, real time performance monitoring.”
In terms of product launches, Tanttu highlighted the Larox ® FFP 3716 filter, available since 2020, as an important solution – plus the upgraded Larox ® PF 60 series pressure filter launched in 2024. The latter offers significant environmental benefits by reducing water and oil consumption by up to 90 % and 75 %, respectively, and lowering electric power requirements by 25 %. Its compact, open design requires less floor space and improves maintenance accessibility. The Larox ® FFP 3716 has a compact plate pack design and smart automation, and Metso argues it redefined the overall standard in reliability, capacity and safety in tailings filtration. It can handle ~ 14,000 t / d of coarse / sandy tailings or ~ 10,000 t / d of fine / clay tailings. In 2024, Metso also expanded its polishing filtration product family with the addition of the GM( Glass Media) filter. The GM filter is designed to remove insoluble organics in battery metals processes by utilising very efficient and patented coalescing media. With its cost-effective and modular design, the GM filter increases the recovery and recycling of valuable process chemicals.
She also points out that filters are not designed in isolation from the rest of the process.“ At most of the labs where we do filtration tests, we do also thickening tests so very often where we get tailings samples, we do both sets of tests. The optimised thickening tests result helps in optimisation of the filter cycle, so both technology tests go hand in hand.”
TAKRAF and thickened tailings- safer, smarter mine waste management
Moving on to thickening, and its crucial role in tailings management, which remains one of the mining industry’ s greatest challenges. Conventional wet tailings dams, used for decades, are increasingly under scrutiny due to safety risks, environmental impacts and the burden of indefinite long-term management. As global standards tighten and operators seek safer, more sustainable solutions, thickened tailings technology is stepping forward as a proven pathway toward responsible waste management.
TAKRAF Group told IM:“ Traditional wet tailings dams have proven effective in storage but remain vulnerable to failure. Tragic events in recent years have shown how catastrophic these failures can be for communities, ecosystems and the industry’ s reputation. Thickened tailings provide a safer alternative by reducing the water content in the deposited material and thus lowering the risk profile of the facility. Beyond safety, this approach also contributes to water stewardship, an essential issue in waterscarce regions, by maximising process water recovery and reducing the volume of material requiring permanent storage.”
It adds that one of the most powerful advantages of thickening is the ability to extend the lifespan of existing tailings facilities. By reducing volume through dewatering, operators can make use of existing deposit areas for decades longer, avoiding the need to build new dams.
TAKRAF also points out that the adoption of thickened tailings is part of a broader industry transition. The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management has raised expectations for safety, transparency and risk reduction, and technologies such as thickening are central to achieving compliance.“ While thickening does not eliminate tailings, it substantially reduces their volume, footprint and long-term risk. The next step, Dry Stack Tailings( DST) further advances this progress by removing water almost entirely, eliminating the need for tailings dams altogether.”
It continues:“ Mining cannot eliminate tailings, but it can, and must, manage them more responsibly. By embracing thickening and ultimately dry stacking, the industry is taking meaningful steps toward safer, more sustainable operations. As one of the world’ s leading providers of tailings management technology, TAKRAF Group remains committed to partnering with mining companies to engineer solutions that protect communities, conserve resources and ensure a safer legacy for future generations.”
Through its DELKOR brand, TAKRAF Group has decades of expertise in liquid / solid separation, with hundreds of thickeners and clarifiers operating worldwide. By combining this heritage with TAKRAF’ s material handling know-how, the Group says it is uniquely positioned to deliver integrated Dry Stack Tailings( DST) solutions, from thickening through to dry disposal.
A new contract for Codelco’ s Talabre thickened copper tailings project in Chile represents both a milestone project for TAKRAF Group and a benchmark for the industry. It says it demonstrates that largescale, thickened tailings solutions are not only possible, but already being realised at unprecedented scale.
Operating since 1952, Talabre is already one of the largest tailings deposits globally, covering an area of about 10 by 6 kilometres with a capacity of nearly 4.4 billion cubic metres. The shift from conventional deposition to thickened tailings will extend the facility’ s lifespan by an estimated 40 to 50 years, an outcome with clear economic, environmental, and social benefits for the region. Operations are planned to begin in 2027. TAKRAF is supplying seven DELKOR
44 International Mining | OCTOBER 2025