The Meliadine property covers more than 80km of a greenstone belt, and is under development as an underground and open-pit mine and mill operation for start up in 2019. Meliadine is Agnico Eagle's largest development project based on reserves and resources.

The delivery is scheduled for the March 2018 quarter, and the equipment will be used for regrind application of gold ore.

“Our team carried out a thorough technology and total cost of ownership review for this special application,” said Daniel Seguin, engineering manager at Agnico Eagle. “The combination of the Vertimill 500 grinding mill and the MHC 250 hydrocyclones provides us with a total comminution solution. The remoteness of the Meliadine site placed added value in the low media consumption associated with the Metso VTM technology and its ability to maintain a stable product across a significant range of feed variations.”

Frank Cacchione, VP, minerals processing solutions sales, US and Canada at Metso, added: “We are grateful for Agnico Eagle's confidence in Metso. We are more committed than ever to continue developing and packaging our solutions to meet our customer's needs in various applications and demanding production environments.”

The MHC hydrocyclone is part of Metso's process equipment portfolio for the mining industry covering classification, beneficiation and dewatering processes. The MHC series includes seven sizes, ranging from 100-800mm in diameter and are available both individually and in clusters. Metso's new MHCTM Series hydrocyclones deliver a high unit capacity and exceptional separation efficiency for a wide range of classification duties: optimised process performance, superior wear component design and improved ease of maintenance.