Metso equipment at Blackwater gold mine EP2: comminution design notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Metso has secured orders worth about €39 million ($45 million) to supply crushing and grinding plant equipment for Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Mine Expanded Phase 2 (EP2) project in central British Columbia, supporting the next throughput step-up at the open-pit operation. The package includes a Superior MKIII primary gyratory crusher and Nordberg HP Series cone crushers, integrated into a new comminution line. For process engineers, the standardised Metso flowsheet should simplify spares, liner management and control integration across Blackwater’s staged expansions.
Technical Brief
- Orders cover both crushing and grinding plant packages for Blackwater’s Expanded Phase 2 circuit.
- Equipment will be installed at Artemis Gold’s Blackwater open-pit operation in central British Columbia.
- Metso’s scope is structured as multiple orders totalling about €39 million in value.
- Supply is tied specifically to the EP2 development stage, supporting the next throughput increment.
Our Take
Metso’s €39 million crushing and grinding package for Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Mine sits alongside several recent orders in our database where Metso is pushing a ‘whole-of-circuit’ optimisation approach, signalling that Blackwater EP2 is likely to be engineered for tight integration of comminution stages rather than piecemeal equipment upgrades.
The recent Metso–Loesche VRM dry grinding partnership and Metso’s Vertimill® order for a DR-grade iron ore project show the company standardising on energy-efficient grinding solutions across commodities; applying similar technology choices at a large Canadian gold project could materially lower unit power costs in central British Columbia’s relatively high grid-tariff environment.
Metso’s acquisition of MRA Automation and its rollout of machine-learning-based maintenance tools suggest that the Blackwater Mine installation may be a candidate for higher levels of automation and predictive maintenance than typical Canadian gold operations, which could help Artemis Gold manage labour constraints and remote-site reliability in central British Columbia.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
CMRR-io
Streamline coal mine roof stability assessments with our cloud-based CMRR software featuring automated calculations, multi-scenario analysis, and collaborative workflows.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.