OUTOTEC, a mining and metal technologies and services provider, seeks to create with the opening of its office in Manila on September 16 a significant share for the advancement of the mining and metal industry in the country, a senior official of the company said.
“Through our industry-leading technologies, we want to make a strong contribution to sustainable development of the Philippine mining and metallurgical industry,” said Stuart Sneyd, Outotec president for the Asia-Pacific region.
The Finnish company, with headquarters in Espoo, Finland, has been providing mining and metal processing companies in the Philippines with its technologies for over 50 years now.
“Outotec has sold technologies for copper smelting and concentrating in the Philippines since the 1960s,” he said.
In the 1960s the company provided the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (Pasar) with a number of feasibility studies to establish the mineral capability of Isabel, Leyte.
It helped Pasar to “regularly upgrade the smelter” over the years. The most recent upgrade was in 2013.
Outotec technologies also facilitated the modernization of the cooper concentrator of the Carmen Copper Mining Complex in Toledo City, Cebu.
It also worked with the mining company in its engineering, procurement and services.
Carmen Copper, a subsidiary of Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp., awarded Outotec in July 2014 a three-year contract to provide it a life-cycle solution package, which includes “provision of site services on all equipment supplied” by the company.
The contract also includes “maintenance and spares programs, as well as one-off training.”
One of the essential components of Outotec strategy is sustainability, a company statement said. A number of its technologies are certified by the European Union as Best Available Techniques for their “high recovery, energy efficiency and low carbon-dioxide emissions.”
Outotec sees the capability of the country for minerals. It stated the Philippines is ranked fifth among the countries across the globe rich in minerals and “has some of the world’s largest resources of gold, copper and nickel.”
About 30 percent of the Philippine land mass “is believed to contain” precious-mineral reserves.
As part of the company’s expansion in the Asia Pacific, its new office in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, also sees potential engagement with local industries for waste management and with the growing renewable-energy industry.
“This market also offers attractive growth opportunities for Outotec in industrial water treatment and renewable-energy sector,” Sneyd said. “We will take our capability to deliver sustainable technology solutions and local customer support services.”