Copper prices have surged 35% in 2025 to above $11,800/t as traders diverted an estimated 730,000–830,000 t into CME-deliverable US warehouses in October alone to pre-empt possible Trump tariffs of up to 15%, leaving this “economically trapped” metal tightening ex-US markets and inflating premiums. Prolonged disruptions at Grasberg, Kamoa-Kakula, El Teniente and Teck’s QB2, plus grade decline and slow ramp-ups at Collahuasi and Los Bronces, are constraining concentrate supply. BloombergNEF projects energy-transition demand could push copper into structural deficit from 2026, with a potential 19 Mt gap by 2050 without major new projects and recycling.

Metso has secured approximately €70 million in remaining major contracts under its August 2024 frame agreement to supply Metso Plus beneficiation and dewatering equipment to Barrick Mining’s 50%-owned Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan. The package covers advanced flotation and dewatering systems sized for large-scale porphyry copper-gold throughput, aimed at improving concentrate recovery and water management in an arid environment. For process engineers and project teams, the deal confirms Metso’s technology as the baseline flowsheet for Reko Diq’s concentrator and tailings dewatering design.

McLanahan is promoting compact process solutions such as its recessed-plate filter presses and QUICKCHANGE filter cloth system to lift plant efficiency and reduce tailings water loss in existing mines. The QUICKCHANGE design allows individual cloths to be swapped without removing the plate pack, cutting press downtime, manual handling and confined-space exposure during maintenance. For brownfield operations constrained by legacy footprints and power limits, the company is positioning modular dewatering and screening units as bolt-on upgrades rather than full plant rebuilds.