Can you introduce Eriez to our readership?

EW: Eriez supplies proprietary process equipment for mining, specializing in various types of separation, including magnetic separation and flotation. We support customers through test-work, flowsheet development, equipment sales, installation, commissioning, service agreements, maintenance, and optimization. We maintain vendor service agreements with key customer sites throughout the world. 

What solutions does Eriez’s metals processing division provide?

JM: Every mining plant, apart from iron ore operations, use magnetic separation in the crushing circuit. Our products help customers keep their plants operating continuously. 

We continually upgrade our magnetic separators and optimize magnetic circuits. Our products use both permanent magnets and electromagnets. 

Eriez offer magnetic equipment for milling equipment as well.  We also offer magnetic mill liners, that can last three to five times longer than rubber or metallic liners.  This reduction in the frequency of liner replacement can represent big savings to any plant. 

Can you provide a case study of Eriez’s work in the Western USA?

EW: A great success has been with Rio Tinto's Kennecott operation. We tested and demonstrated our coarse particle flotation equipment there, from lab scale to demonstration unit.  We built and tested our equipment on their site and then scaled it up to treat a part of the plant, evaluating its scalability. Rio Tinto is exploring business opportunities at Kennecott and considering applying the innovations developed there to other operations worldwide. This collaboration gave Kennecott and Rio Tinto a competitive edge, allowing them to leverage new technology across their operations.

How does Eriez's R&D investments help client’s improve operations?

JM: Eriez invests significant amount money and time in R&D to improve processes and explore new applications. Without this research, we risk stagnation and missing out on opportunities that could be detrimental to the growth of the business. Allow me to give a good example where R&D has paid off.  Eriez developed a medium to high intensity magnetic separator for fine dry and high value powders called Dry Vibrating Magnetic Filter (DVMF).  This product had limited applications when it was developed.  However, the development of lithium-ion batteries created new opportunities as the DVMF is the only piece of equipment that can bring extremely high levels of purity to the final product.  In a typical application, these units can help producers market their products such as lithium carbonate, hydroxide, or chloride with extremely low levels of metallic contamination, typically less than 50 ppb.  Now we provide advanced units that generate operational data, such as coil temperature, canister displacement, cooling data and everything is monitored with a PLC that easily communicates with central control rooms.  These innovations and product improvements demonstrate our commitment to the mining industry by developing more efficient and environmentally friendly products.

What does the future hold for Eriez?

JM: I believe Eriez is a solid and innovative company.  We offer great products, and our clients appreciate how reliable our products are.  As my colleague Eric Wasmund mentioned, Eriez has manufacturing facilities on every continent, this allows us to reach our customers in their time zone.  Most importantly, we communicate with most of our customers in their native language.  We have two sales approaches, our flotation division works directly with customers, while our magnetics division uses agents. While our agents are diligently visiting customers and offering our products, our success relies on their technical ability to sell our products.  We hold training activities on a regular basis to keep their knowledge up to date. Eriez continues to focus our mining experts on increasing Eriez's visibility and reputation.  

EW: The Western US has a promising future in mining, beyond its historical focus on gold. Geologically, the Pacific coastal region stretching from Alaska to Chile, sits along tectonic plate boundaries, making it the world's largest copper-producing area. Analysts predict a strong demand for copper, with a potential supply shortfall, especially during the global energy transition. States like Arizona and Utah are well-positioned to benefit from this demand, along with producers of other metals like nickel and lithium. This could bring the US back to the forefront of global mining. As a US-based company, Eriez is keen to collaborate with customers in these regions to support this growth.