In a statement, the company said the center is dedicated to developing new products, processes and services for solids and liquids separation and raw material reuse for the entire life cycle of processing plants.

"In line with our mission -- sustainable use of Earth's natural resources -- we continuously develop new resource-efficient equipment, processes and services for our customers. With the recent acquisition of Kovit Engineering and Outotec's expansion into tailings management solutions, the new dewatering technology center brings world-class knowledge in the study of tailings dewatering and treatment," said Kalle Härkki, head of Outotec's minerals processing division, in a statement. 

“Cooperation with our research partner Lappeenranta University of Technology further supports us in developing more efficient and sustainable total solutions for our customers globally," Härkki said.

The company said the technology center will be able to simulate and optimize customer processes to integrate them with Outotec technology, capturing new levels of efficiency throughout a plant's life cycle.