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GTK Mintec – a pilot plant and laboratories for the circular economy and mineral processing

GTK Mintec is a unique service provider combining mineral research laboratories with an industrial-scale pilot plant. The facility also includes a test area for studying the long-term behaviour of tailings and extractive waste.

Located in Outokumpu, the GTK Mintec mineral processing industry pilot plant and research environment offer research and testing services throughout the value chain from ore deposits to the closing of mines and the reuse of materials. GTK Mintec studies and tests the beneficiation of minerals and mineral-based materials, as well as the recyclability of different types of side streams.

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Research and test runs to support investment decisions

Mineralogical laboratory and pilot plant studies enhance the recovery of valuable materials from raw materials and significantly reduce the amount of materials that cannot be utilised, as well as provide information to be used as the basis for investment decisions.

Scalable based on customer needs

The modern research platform makes it possible to test the production process needed to exploit a mineral deposit at the exact scale required. For example, the pilot plant enables flexible industrial scale testing of the beneficiation process.

Processes and research suitable for a wide range of materials

GTK Mintec has verified the suitability of its mineral engineering methods for the processing of different primary and secondary materials such as industrial minerals, base metals, battery minerals, critical minerals, precious metals and industrial side streams.

Enabling innovative utilisation of side streams

The similar processes that are used to separate minerals are also suited for the separation of recyclable metals from different types of industrial waste and side streams, for example. GTK Mintec’s research efforts improve the utilisation of side streams generated by the mining industry such as the recycling of tailings and the treatment of water. The possibility of utilising side streams from other industries is also studied.

Information to reduce environmental load

GTK Mintec can develop a production process that is as efficient as possible and takes the environment into account. When by-products from mines are more efficiently utilised or processed into a less hazardous form, the environmental load caused by mines will be reduced.

Mineralogical analysis serves as the basis for the development of beneficiation methods

The main emphasis of GTK Mintec’s mineralogical research is on process mineralogy. Mineralogical analyses have become an essential tool in the development of mineral beneficiation methods, for example. In particular, the modern Mineral Liberation Analyser (MLA) has opened up new possibilities for characterising the products of ore prospecting, mining and beneficiation processes, as well as various secondary materials and environmental samples.

Process mineralogy research

A close up photo of a microscope.

Versatile testing and development of beneficiation processes in a laboratory is suitable for different materials

The laboratory-scale research phase provides a preliminary understanding of the performance and suitability of the different unit processes and their combinations for the input material to be studied. The process laboratory uses versatile and modern research and beneficiation methods.

Testing and Development of Beneficiation Processes on a Laboratory Scale

Testing in a continuously operating pilot plant flexibly optimises individual or overall production processes

The main goals with a pilot plant study are verifying the process planned based on laboratory-scale studies in a continuously operating production environment. The studies produce information about process parameters for adjusting the equipment sizing and concentrator design.

Testing and development of beneficiation processes on a pilot plant scale

Factory hall. There are 3 persons using equipments with security clothes on.

The research methods used at GTK Mintec

From research to process design

Crushing and grinding

Hydrometallurgy

Recycling and environmental studies

Gravity and heavy medium separation

Magnetic separation

Process chemistry

Flotation

Mineralogy

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GTK Mintec is part of a broad research and science community

GTK Mintec is part of the Outokumpu Sustainable Mining Hub, the North Karelia science community, and the Circular Raw Materials Hub research infrastructure in Espoo’s Otaniemi.

GTK Mintec offers customized research, testing, and analysis services to mining and exploration companies, the metal and chemical industries, research and development organizations, and other companies developing and utilizing circular economy solutions.

The continuous pilot plant tests flexibly optimize the overall beneficiation process or its subprocesses.

GTK Mintec in numbers

  • Operations began in the mid-1980s. Operations were transferred to GTK in 2004.
  • Area size: 5,500 m²
  • Number of employees: approximately 50
  • Number of projects annually: around 100, of which 8-12 are industrial-scale test runs.

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Contact our expert

Kalliosalo Tuuli
International Business Development Manager
+358295030010
Marjasvaara Asse
Business Development Manager
+358295035801

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