Towards the backdrop of the Future Minerals Discussion board in Riyadh, IM Editorial Director Paul Moore caught up with FLS CEO Mikko Keto to speak about Saudi Arabia’s large progress potential that long run might mirror the extent of mining progress being seen in different markets like Central Asia and South America.
IM Editorial Director Paul Moore and FLS CEO Mikko Keto on the Future Minerals Discussion board in January 2025 in Riyadh
Q The place does FLS see the potential in Saudi Arabia in your product vary and what’s the degree of your present exercise within the Kingdom?
Phosphate mining and to some extent bauxite and industrial minerals mining is properly established however it’s a younger nation from a metallic mining perspective – nonetheless we see the Kingdom’s Imaginative and prescient 2030 having the potential to quickly develop the nation’s mining business by orders of magnitude. In the event you fulfil environmental and regulatory necessities then it is rather clear that the Saudi authorities needs to quick observe the mines that may consequence from the intensive and widespread exploration within the nation that’s ongoing by each juniors and established miners – some have licences protecting complete mineralised belts. It additionally means sooner allowing and licensing for precise mining operations. Sometimes from deposit discovery to an operational mine takes on common 18 years – in Saudi the bureaucratic a part of that course of has the potential to be shortened considerably – that doesn’t imply compromises are being made or corners lower – it simply means a big and vibrant mining business is a high precedence for the Kingdom. A lot of the main mining homes and the large EPCM teams attend FMF at present. Most of the mining teams have already got exploration licences in Saudi or are bidding for them – and naturally at FLS we have now current relationships with them. When it comes to current enterprise, we’re in the course of executing a mission in phosphate with Ma’aden and that’s going properly – that is for the Phosphate 3 Section 1 mine web site within the Northern Province and consists of each main and secondary sizers, apron and HAB feeders, cone crushers, screens, cyclone clusters, ball mills, paste and high-rate thickeners, horizontal belt filter, slurry pumps knife-gate valves and flotation columns. We now have additionally labored with Ma’aden at their gold operations previously. I’d say they’re fairly a complicated operator, they recognized what they’re doing and have a fantastic competence pool round mining. On the similar time we’re working with the training system in Saudi so we will help deliver up the following technology of mining and mineral processing engineers. And at FLS we’re making extra direct funding into the Kingdom – enhancing our native presence to allow extra manufacturing and extra native sourcing and fabrication. Within the coming years as new mining initiatives develop, we are going to make investments additional with extra service capabilities to satisfy these wants. When it comes to our product vary, to present an instance we’re increasing quickly with our pumps and cyclones in mining, and these product strains have large potential within the nation.
Q Future flowsheets appear to be a central subject of dialog in mineral processing at present – are miners extra prepared to have a look at modern applied sciences which have the potential to deliver important power, productiveness and effectivity wins?
Undoubtedly we’re seeing the temper altering in that route. Taking coarse particle flotation for instance, the place we have now our coarseAIR™ expertise, we have already got pilots and see numerous potential to ramp that as much as a extra industrial scale as prospects achieve extra confidence once they see the outcomes of these trials. As a result of the potential power financial savings associated to comminution are very important. Which means it’s also actually essential from a sustainability perspective and ties in with our MissionZero targets. The identical applies to our REFLUX ™ Flotation Cell which affords operates at a magnitude far past the capability of current flotation gadgets, decreasing the required set up footprint and can be utilized with extremely tremendous as much as coarser materials. We additionally predict that applied sciences like these will turn out to be a part of the mainstream flowsheet flotation design as an alternative of simply dealing with sure streams, resembling their potential influence. Again to comminution and we see our HPGR gaining an increasing number of recognition. It isn’t a brand new expertise – we have now near 170 industrial installations operating in arduous rock; however it’s positively within the combine an increasing number of by way of really changing SAG and ball mills. And they’re turning into extra prevalent in new commodities – in India in iron ore, for instance, we’re supplying two of the world’s largest HPGRs at 3 m diameter x 2 m width – anticipated to be put in and commissioned throughout 2026. We’re the market chief by quantity in HPGRs – in 2024 alone we acquired orders for 15 models. The transfer to HPGRs is pushed by a need for higher effectivity and sustainability. One other future flowsheet element is the vertical tower mill – two years in the past we put in the world’s largest vertical steel-media tower mill with dual-duty throughput for a North American Tier-1 gold miner’s operation within the Dominican Republic. The FTM-4500 was delivered in below 14 months from receipt of the order. And also you additionally want to have a look at what’s feeding these new milling options – and in gyratory crushers our TSUV vary is exclusive out there by way of security and effectivity elements. Massive gyratories appear to be the first crushing most well-liked possibility at present – once more, at FLS we’re setting new requirements right here – and we’re delivering one of many world’s largest gyratories as a part of a crushing station to a significant copper mine in Peru for his or her growth mission. We’re a full flowsheet supplier – so we are able to optimise the HPGR or vertical mill feed but additionally present probably the most optimum downstream choices from flotation to thickening and filtration.
Ball mills at Bozshakol plant of Almalyk (courtesy Almalyk MMC)
Q Central Asia, with main mining nations resembling Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, has been a very fruitful marketplace for FLS lately – what’s behind your success there and might you give an replace on progress in that a part of the world?
We had been one of many early entrants in Kazakhstan by way of the premium world mineral processing gamers, and I feel that was essential in serving to us to get to know that market and for the purchasers there to get to know our price proposition. And in a market like that, with early massive scale successes, different operators then usually comply with swimsuit once they see the productiveness beneficial properties. Copper miner KAZ Minerals has been an in depth accomplice of ours – together with main concentrator deliveries over time – two in Bozshakol copper mine in 2014 and a collection of contracts at Aktogay copper mine – a brand new 75,000 t/d concentrator in 2015 and a brand new 75,000 t/d line delivered in 2020 which doubled their throughput to 150,000 t/d. These strains included the entire flowsheet together with SAG and ball mills, gyratory crusher, pebble crusher, main and regrind cyclones, flotation cells, scavenger cells and cleaner cells, mud collectors, overland conveyor, belt feeders, in-plant conveyors, lime slaking plant, screens, focus and tailings thickeners. Even within the mature South American market, the Aktogay flowsheet has been one thing of a showcase, and has really been referenced there by others in discussions. Shifting to Uzbekistan we’re finishing a lot of the work on the MOF-3 copper-gold-moly 60 Mt/y concentrator, together with related conveyors, for Almalyk MMC with their EPC contractor Enter Engineering and just lately introduced one other strategic cooperation settlement with them for the supply of the core mineral processing gear for MOF-4. This covers HPGRs, screens, copper and molybdenum flotation, vertical re-grind mills, focus and tailing thickeners, focus filters, gravity concentrators, samplers in addition to pumps, cyclones and valves. Studying from MOF-3, but additionally making use of the newest improvements, MOF-4 will incorporate numerous our newest applied sciences and can add one other 60 Mt/y, bringing Almalyk’s general ore all through capability to over 160 Mt/y.
Q Most of the world’s largest mines are getting greater by brownfield expansions – is {that a} main market driver at present?
You might be proper, a lot of the brand new capability, particularly in South America, is being added by massive expansions at Antamina, Quebrada Blanca, Collahuasi and numerous different operations. We’re very current in massive copper there and are actively concerned in numerous this work in Chile in Peru so as to add capability. That stated there are some thrilling greenfield initiatives as properly in South American copper – resembling in Argentina and initiatives like El Pachon, Taca Taca, Los Azules, Josemaria and others. We simply talked concerning the degree of expansions additionally in Central Asia and our shut involvement with key prospects there. All of those are long run investments being made by miners involving many years of manufacturing – they aren’t quick time period strikes. These long run pondering strikes are additionally vitally essential for the economies of those nations going ahead and aren’t simply being pushed by quick time period steel worth fluctuations. The extent of CAPEX being dedicated additionally means they wish to make certain of the outcomes and the longevity of the mineral processing options being delivered, in addition to making them as sustainable as attainable from an power and water perspective – and we’re a lifetime of mine accomplice for these kind of prospects. Our funding displays this – in Uzbekistan for instance we’re investing in new service functionality to make sure we’re capable of assist MOF-3 and now MOF-4 long run. Past MOF-4, even MOF-5 has been talked about on the horizon, which might doubtlessly make Almalyk the most important copper manufacturing advanced on the planet with over 500,000 t of copper steel produced per yr.
