Metso has signed a three-year life cycle service agreement with the Kevitsa copper and nickel mine in Sodankylä, Finland. Kevitsa is owned by First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Metso commits to reduce production downtime associated with mill liner changes and maximize grinding efficiency over the life of the contract.
The value of the order has not been disclosed.
Metso will take complete responsibility for the supply, installation and optimization of Kevitsa mine’s mill liners. Metso and Kevitsa’s common goal is to increase the mill’s availability, production efficiency and reduce the total cost of ownership so as to help increase mine profitability.
“This solution will raise our utilization rate to a new level and will contribute significantly our sustainable competitiveness in the challenging market situation,” said Timo Ikäheimonen, planning manager at FQM’s Kevitsa mine.
As part of the agreement, Metso aims to increase the time between shutdowns through optimization of wear parts selection as well as decrease the duration of shutdowns. Metso will reduce shutdown times through advanced planning and the delivery of its patented Megaliner grinding mill wear parts. Thanks to the fast installation process of Metso’s Megaliner, downtime is reduced.
Additionally, the use of Megaliner parts in grinding mills increases worker safety, as the attachment parts are inserted from the outside of the mill. With this setup, there is no need for the workers to be in the danger zone of the liners while installing liner bolts.
“With this FQM Kevitsa mine’s cooperation agreement, we aim to reduce the concentrator plant downtime, secure availability and commit ourselves to the continuous development of enhancing the plant’s operations,” said Olli Kellokumpu, sales director for minerals, Finland with Metso.
Installation will begin in the latter part of 2015.
