10 Feb METNET: the bridge between lab scale and industrial scale!
Production of metals is capital-intensive and unsuccessful investments in production facilities can lead to serious consequences for the company or investor. Consequently, access to pilot plants is necessary to bring ideas or concepts into industrial use, i.e., “Crossing the valley of death”.
To meet these needs, well-established pilot plants in Europe clustered into the METNET network inside PROMETIA Association. The main objective of METNET is to strengthen the competitiveness of the European mining and metallurgical industries by securing an overall solution for development, validation and up-scaling of processes and technologies under industrial-relevant conditions. By doing this METNET brings new value to the European economy by developing new businesses and help existing businesses improve performance and/or develop new products that are crucial for the competitiveness of the European mining and metals sector.
A new President to lead the METNET network in 2020 has taken over from Gro Eide, Elkem. Marion Lenoir from Eramet has been elected for the year and will coordinate the actions of the network.
METNET consists today of 10 independent pilot plants in Europe that on a regular basis design, construct and operate large pilot scale equipment for mineral and metallurgical processes.
- BRGM, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, France (Processing of minerals and secondary materials)
- CEA, France (Hydrometallurgy for non-ferrous industry)
- CRM, Belgium (Pyrometallurgy for ferrous and non-ferrous industry)
- ELKEM Technology R&D Technical Center, Norway (Pyrometallurgy for ferrous and non- ferrous industry)
- ERAMET Research, France (Mineral processing, hydro- and pyrometallurgy for ferrous and non-ferrous industry)
- Extracthive, France (Mineral processing and hydrometallurgy for non-ferrous industry)
- GTK, Geological Survey of Finland (Processing of minerals and secondary materials)
- IMN, Poland (Mineral processing, hydro- and pyrometallurgy for non-ferrous industry)
- Materials Processing Institute, UK (Pyrometallurgy for ferrous industry)
- Swerim MEFOS, Sweden (Pyrometallurgy for ferrous and non-ferrous industry)
