Lifecycle Maintenance Services for Mining Pressure Filtration Systems

Metso has secured two multi-year Life Cycle Services (LCS) contracts totaling approximately EUR 60 million to support global mining operations. The agreements include a five-year contract with a South American copper producer and a four-year contract with a lead and zinc producer in the Asia Pacific region, focusing exclusively on the maintenance and optimization of existing Larox PF filter installations.

Plate Pack Management and Maintenance
The service agreements utilize Metso’s Plate Pack Management Service (PPMS) architecture to manage the filtration hardware. The operational scope covers planned maintenance, structured spare parts supply, plate pack repairs, and full component exchanges. To transition operational maintenance from reactive to proactive, the contracts integrate digital condition monitoring tools that track machine performance in real time. This architecture is designed to minimize unplanned downtime and stabilize throughput in high-volume base metal processing environments.

Component Reconditioning and Asset Lifecycle
To extend the functional lifecycle of the capital equipment, the contracts include OEM-warrantied repairs and hardware upgrades executed via localized service workshops. A central element of the PPMS framework is the continuous reconditioning of the filter plate components rather than complete hardware replacement. This systemic reuse strategy reduces material consumption and lowers the embedded carbon footprint of the maintenance cycle, directly supporting resource efficiency metrics for the mining operators.

Additional Context: This section details technical specifications not included in the original announcement
In minerals processing, Larox PF (Pressure Filter) systems are heavily utilized for dewatering concentrates and tailings. These automatic tower filters operate by pumping slurry into a vertical stack of horizontally oriented filter plates. Once the chambers are filled, high-pressure air or water inflates a rubber diaphragm within each chamber, mechanically squeezing the slurry to extract maximum liquid and form a solid, dry filter cake. The "plate pack" constitutes the core mechanical assembly of these plates, diaphragms, and specialized polymer filter cloths. Because copper and zinc concentrates are highly abrasive, and the mechanical squeezing process exerts intense cyclic stress (frequently operating at compression forces up to 16 bar), the filtration media undergoes rapid wear. Without systematic reconditioning of the plate packs, the filter cloths can experience blinding (clogging) or the diaphragms can rupture, leading to critical pressure losses and immediate halts in the dewatering production line.

Edited by Lekshman Ramdas, Induportals editor – adapted by AI.

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