Metso is a regular sponsor of MEI Conferences, particularly the Comminution and Flotation series, and we are delighted that the company is once again supporting both Comminution ’27 and Flotation ’27. We are equally pleased that Metso has agreed to sponsor the inaugural AI in Mineral Processing ’27, and Hydrometallurgy ’27 in June of next year. In doing so, Metso will be supporting all four of MEI’s conferences in 2027.
This broad commitment reflects the increasingly wide-ranging nature of Metso’s activities across the minerals processing and extractive metallurgy industries. The four conferences, Comminution ’27, AI in Mineral Processing ’27, Hydrometallurgy ’27 and Flotation ’27, collectively cover some of the key technologies shaping the future of mineral processing, from size reduction and separation to hydrometallurgy and the rapidly developing application of artificial intelligence.
Metso’s involvement with Hydrometallurgy ’27 reflects the company's experience of over 40 years in hydrometallurgical processes, with capabilities extending from process testing and flowsheet development through to plant design and proprietary equipment. Its technology portfolio encompasses atmospheric and pressure leaching, solvent extraction, precipitation, electrowinning and electrorefining.
There have been a number of significant recent developments in this area. In May 2026, Metso introduced an enhanced lithium carbonate production process designed to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate from spodumene concentrate using a single-pass process. The technology combines Metso's hydrometallurgical and thermal processing expertise and is based on alkaline leaching and soda pressure leaching. Metso says the process can simplify plant design, reduce processing complexity and improve operational stability, while the company is also testing a circular metallurgy concept for regenerating chemicals used in the alkaline leach process.
The development builds on more than two decades of Metso experience in alkaline leaching technologies for hard-rock lithium sources. Its lithium portfolio also includes technologies for lithium hydroxide production, giving the company capabilities extending from ore beneficiation through to the production of battery-grade chemicals.
Metso is also investing in the mineralogical capabilities that underpin the development of hydrometallurgical flowsheets. In June 2026, the company announced an investment at its Research Center in Pori, Finland, including a new automated mineralogy analyser. The expanded capability is intended to provide faster and more detailed information on ore characteristics, mineral associations and metallurgical behaviour, supporting flowsheet development across mineral processing, hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy. A Metso paper describing the multidisciplinary characterisation of critical European lithium ores will be presented at Process Mineralogy '26.
The timing is equally appropriate for Metso's sponsorship of AI in Mineral Processing ’27. In September 2026, the company launched three new digital solutions, Metso Digital Production Management, Metso Data-driven Performance Analytics and Metso Safety Performance Platform. These form part of Metso's wider digital portfolio and use operational data, advanced analytics and AI-driven insights to help mining operations identify issues, evaluate production scenarios, improve performance and strengthen safety.
Metso says its Digital Production Management solution can evaluate production scenarios and recommend operating actions aimed at objectives including increased throughput and recovery and improved reliability. The company has also continued to expand its connected equipment and data-driven services, with more than 800 pieces of equipment connected to its services by July 2026.
For a company working across the complete minerals processing flowsheet, from crushing and grinding through flotation, dewatering and hydrometallurgical and metals-refining technologies, these developments are part of a broader move towards increasingly integrated, data-driven and resource-efficient processing.
AI offers the potential to make much better use of the enormous quantities of operational and mineralogical data generated by modern plants, helping operators identify changing process conditions, evaluate alternative operating scenarios and make faster, better-informed decisions. At the same time, developments in hydrometallurgy are becoming increasingly important as the industry addresses more complex ores, critical minerals and the growing demand for battery materials.
Metso's decision to sponsor all four of MEI's 2027 conferences therefore provides a particularly strong connection between the company's broad technology portfolio and the themes being explored across the MEI programme. From the fundamentals of comminution and flotation, through emerging AI applications, to the increasingly important field of hydrometallurgy, Metso's involvement reflects the breadth of technologies required to meet the mineral processing challenges of the future.
We are extremely grateful to Metso for its continued support of MEI Conferences in 2027 and we look forward to welcoming Metso's experts, customers and partners to the four conferences.
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