Valmet’s Neles NDX in Zambian copper flotation: control and uptime lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
A copper concentrator on Zambia’s Copperbelt has replaced repeatedly failing valve positioners in its flotation circuit with Valmet’s Neles NDX smart positioners to cope with aggressive reagents, high humidity, dust and strong vibration. The compact NDX units, with continuous self-diagnostics and low air consumption, are being installed on existing actuators across slurry, air and reagent control valves without changing piping or brackets. Early operation shows more stable froth level control and fewer unplanned shutdowns, directly improving plant throughput and maintenance planning.
Technical Brief
- For other African concentrators with similar reagent chemistries and climate, robust IP/NEMA-rated smart positioners are becoming a de facto safety baseline.
Our Take
Copper processing stories make up a noticeable share of the 258 copper‑tagged pieces in our database, signalling that plant‑level reliability upgrades like Valmet’s positioners are becoming a key lever for operators trying to keep Zambian Copperbelt throughput stable without major new capex.
Within the 2063 tag‑matched ‘Projects/Product/Safety’ items, copper operations often pair new control hardware with safety cases around tailings or acid handling, so similar deployments in Zambia are likely to be scrutinised not just for process stability but also for how they reduce manual intervention in hazardous areas.
Zambia’s Copperbelt appears less frequently in our recent coverage than Latin American copper hubs, which suggests that incremental automation products here can offer outsized operational gains for ageing concentrators compared with greenfield plants in newer copper districts.
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.
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