Metallurgical Recovery & Process Engineering Services
End-to-end support from material assessment to plant implementation.
VIIS covers the full path a recovery project has to travel: understanding the material, developing a route, proving it through test work, and engineering it into something that can operate. Engagements can start at any point along that path, and nothing is recommended for scale-up until the test work supports it.
From material assessment to plant support
VIIS covers the full path a recovery project has to travel: understanding the material, developing a route, proving it, and engineering it into something that can operate. Engagements can start at any point on that path.
Assess
Characterise the material — chemistry, mineralogy, particle size and deportment of the target element.
Define
Establish the recovery target, product specification and the constraints the route has to work within.
Test
Bench-scale test work on candidate routes, structured to discriminate between them rather than confirm one.
Model
Mass and energy balances, simulation and scenario comparison to size the circuit and expose sensitivities.
Validate
Pilot-scale confirmation where scale-dependent behaviour carries meaningful risk.
Engineer
Process engineering, equipment specification and implementation support.
Scale & Commercialise
Support through scale-up, operation and product placement.
Recovery & Beneficiation
Recovering valuable metals and minerals from industrial residues and metallurgical by-products — and upgrading marginal streams into a saleable product specification.
- Representative sampling and material characterisation
- Liberation and deportment assessment
- Separation route selection and concentrate upgrading
- Product specification against end-use requirements
Process Development
Developing and optimising the flowsheet itself — including integrated routes where no single technology carries the full recovery duty.
- Flowsheet development and option comparison
- Circuit optimisation and recycle-load assessment
- Integrated pyro/hydro/physical separation routes
- Mass and energy balance development
Validation & Test Work
Bench-scale and pilot-scale metallurgical test work — the evidence base that determines whether a route is worth engineering.
- Bench-scale programmes designed to discriminate between routes
- Pilot-scale validation of scale-dependent behaviour
- Reagent, energy and consumable requirement assessment
- Reporting that states confidence limits, not just results
Engineering Advisory
Technical advisory and plant-level support for operating facilities — where the question is about an existing process rather than a new one.
- Plant walkdowns and process reviews
- Debottlenecking and process improvement
- Mass and energy balance verification against actual operation
- Technical due diligence and independent review
Commercial Support & Product Development
A recovery route only matters if the product can be placed. This work runs alongside the technical programme rather than after it.
Process Commercialisation
Carrying a validated route through to an operating and commercial footing.
Product Development
Defining and refining recovered products against real end-use specifications.
Sales & Export Support
Support for placing recovered product into local and export markets where applicable.
Feed streams we assess
Dedicated pages for each material stream are in preparation.
Frequently asked
Yes. Test work is frequently commissioned on its own, either to assess a stream for the first time or to provide independent verification of results obtained elsewhere.
It begins with characterisation, which determines which routes are worth testing at all. Bench work then compares those candidates under controlled conditions. Pilot work follows only where scale-dependent behaviour represents genuine risk to the decision.
Yes. Confidentiality arrangements are put in place before material or data changes hands, and non-confidential summaries can be agreed where a project needs to be discussed more widely.
Discuss your material or process challenge
If you hold a residue stream, by-product, tailings resource or slag with possible recoverable value — or a process that is not performing as designed — we are interested in the technical detail.