CHILE —Metso has secured a EUR 16 million order to modernize three high-rate thickeners at a large-scale mining operation in Chile. The order was booked in the company’s Minerals segment during the third quarter of 2026 and ranks among Metso’s largest service orders for thickener modernization.
The upgrade will retrofit the three existing Metso thickeners with two SCD 4000 drives, new mechanisms and a redesigned high-performance feed system. The equipment changes are intended to allow the thickeners to handle higher throughput and changing operating requirements while increasing underflow density and water recovery.
The project is significant for mining operators seeking to expand production without replacing entire processing systems. By upgrading installed thickening infrastructure, the customer can increase equipment capacity and process performance while retaining existing assets. Higher water recovery can also reduce freshwater requirements within mineral processing operations, where water availability is an increasingly important operating constraint.
The order highlights continued demand for brownfield upgrades across the mining sector, particularly in established mining regions such as Chile. Modernization of existing processing equipment provides an alternative to larger-scale replacement or greenfield investment when producers need additional capacity or improved resource efficiency. Equipment suppliers with installed bases can therefore capture service and retrofit opportunities as mines adapt to higher production requirements.
For Metso, the contract expands its service exposure in Chile’s mining industry and demonstrates the commercial potential of upgrading equipment already deployed at customer sites. Metso is a Finland-based industrial technology company that supplies equipment, services and process solutions to the mining, aggregates and metals refining industries. The company’s Minerals business provides technologies covering mineral processing and related plant equipment.
