Global minerals processing and metals technology company contributing industrial-scale expertise in metallurgy, mining digitalization, and sustainable resource recovery.
Metso (now Metso Outotec) is a major Finnish industrial equipment and process technology company specializing in minerals processing, metals refining, and aggregates production. They develop crushing, grinding, flotation, and hydrometallurgical systems used across mining and metals industries worldwide. Within EU research, they contribute industrial-scale testing facilities, process optimization expertise, and real-world validation environments for projects targeting resource efficiency, metal recovery, and digital transformation of extractive industries.
Core contributor across INTMET (polymetallic ore processing), METGROW PLUS (metal recovery from low-grade ores), ITERAMS (integrated mineral technologies), SOCRATES and MetalIntelligence (training networks), SULTAN (sulfidic waste reprocessing), and SUPREME (powder metallurgy).
METGROW PLUS focuses on low-grade ore and waste recovery, SULTAN on sulfidic mining waste remediation, ITERAMS on sustainable raw material supply, and DIGIECOQUARRY on sustainable aggregates.
Productive4.0 (digital factory, process automation), COCOP (optimizing complex industrial processes), and DIGIECOQUARRY (mining digitalization and smart aggregates systems).
PreMa targets energy-efficient manganese ferroalloy production using renewable energy, and IbD addresses process intensification for solids handling.
INTMET covers pressure leaching, atmospheric leaching, and bioleaching; METGROW PLUS addresses hydrometallurgical metal recovery; SULTAN includes solvometallurgy and biometallurgy.
In the early period (2015–2018), Metso focused heavily on core metallurgical processing — hydrometallurgy, bioleaching, metal recovery from low-grade and polymetallic ores — reflecting their traditional equipment and process engineering strengths. From 2018 onward, the portfolio shifted toward digitalization (smart production, process automation, simulation, big data) and environmental sustainability (mining waste reprocessing, LCA, EU Green Deal alignment). Their most recent and largest-funded project, DIGIECOQUARRY (2021), combines both trends: digital tools applied to sustainable extractive industries.
Metso is moving from traditional process metallurgy toward digitalized, sustainability-driven extractive industry solutions — expect future work at the intersection of mining automation, circular economy, and green transition.
Metso consistently joins as a participant or partner rather than leading consortia — zero projects as coordinator across 12 entries. They operate in large, multi-partner consortia (261 unique partners across 27 countries), indicating they serve as an industrial validation partner rather than a research driver. This pattern is typical for large industrial companies that provide real-world testing environments and domain expertise while universities and research institutes lead the scientific agenda.
Metso has collaborated with 261 unique partners across 27 countries, making them one of the more broadly connected industrial players in the extractive industries research space. Their network spans most of Europe with no narrow geographic clustering, reflecting their global business footprint.
Metso Outotec is one of the few global-scale minerals processing equipment manufacturers actively participating in EU research. Unlike smaller technology firms or university labs, they bring full industrial process chains — from ore crushing to refined metals — which means research results tested with Metso have a realistic path to commercial deployment. Their dual competence in both traditional metallurgy and emerging digital/sustainability themes makes them a valuable bridge between laboratory research and industrial reality.
