With over 100 years of history, our long journey has proven us to be a very reliable company. Alongside our associates we have met numerous milestones marked by achievements and growth that have made us proud and pleased to continue expanding together.

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1917

In Chile, Compañía Electrometalúrgica S.A., Elecmetal, was founded and installed the first electric arc furnace for steel casting in Latin America. At the same time, Minneapolis Electric Steel Casting (ME) began operations in the United States.

1927

Began manufacturing molten material for “mineral grinding."

1938

Purchased and installed new technology for the large-scale manufacture of forged balls for mining grinding.

1959

Signed manufacturing license agreement with Electric Steel Co., ESC0, of Portland, Oregon (USA) to produce earthmoving spare parts.

1976

Installed a vacuum casting system at our Duluth foundry in the United States.

2001

Elecmetal expanded its metallurgical business by purchasing the assets of ME International and ME West Castings, inheriting the experience and know-how of ME International along with two modern foundries located in the states of Minnesota and Arizona.

2003

ME Elecmetal purchases 60% of Fundición Talleres from Codelco, then the remaining 40% in 2008. This created the basis for the future Rancagua project.

2007

Esco Corp. (USA) and Elecmetal entered into a Joint Venture and created ESCO Elecmetal, a subsidiary located in Colina, Chile, which manufactures steel spare parts for earthmoving equipment to supply the local and export markets.

2011

ME Elecmetal and Longteng Special Steel Co. (China) form a 50/50 Joint Venture named "ME Longteng Grinding Media (Changshu)" to build a modern plant for the manufacture of more than 400,000 t/year of forged balls for the Mining Industry. The Early Alert was created and began providing 3D laser services and advanced non-destructive techniques for structural analysis of mining equipment and infrastructure.

2012

Official inauguration of our grinding ball plant in Changshu, China as well as our Colina Plant in Chile where we manufacture wear elements for earth works. The company invested US$ 18 million in expanding two US foundries in Duluth, Minnesota and Tempe, Arizona.

2014

We launched ME FIT System and became the first company to provide a comprehensive solution for the communition stage in mining. This same year we began operating a new modern foundry in Changzhou, China.

2016

Our Rancagua Plant (formerly Fundición Talleres) underwent a major US$92-million overhaul.

2018

Our new grinding ball plant began operations in Zambia.

2021

We launched the ME Digital Lab, the company's technology arm that combines our extensive industry knowledge with emerging digital technologies as enablers of innovative and disruptive solutions for the mining market.

Solutions

ME FIT Programs

Products and services

Mining 4.0

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