FLSmidth opens new technology research center in Midvale

MIDVALE — Charli Jeltema and her husband, Brett, couldn't wait to pack up and leave Arizona this summer for their new jobs at the just-opened FLSmidth Global Minerals Technology Research Center.

Charli Jeltema, 31, is a metallurgical engineer whose work involves creating flow sheets that show the best way to connect mining equipment that crushes raw ore into smaller and smaller pieces until the valuable materials, such as copper, gold, lead or zinc, can be removed. Brett Jeltema, meanwhile, works in the company's separations lab.

FLSmidth, a global player in the minerals processing industry that is headquartered in Denmark, on Wednesday opened its new technology center in the View72 Corporate Center, at 7200 S. 1100 West, in Midvale.

The opening, attended by many of the 400 employees who will work there and several local dignitaries, contained a certain irony.

The location was once the site of a gigantic smelting and tailings area that landed on the Superfund list and needed to be cleansed before it could be considered safe. Meanwhile, FLSmidth is a leader in devising new ways to make a cleaner and more environmentally friendly activity. And the building itself features many eco-friendly characteristics and is the biggest LEED-certified office park in Utah.

For Charli Jeltema, the whole idea seems fitting that a once-troubled site now houses a business that is keenly aware of environmental concerns — and it occupies a new building that, in its structure and operation, reflects that concern.

"It's kind of closing a circle," she said. "It's great to see."

The industry has been evolving and moving away from the dirty and land-destroying activity that many people picture in their minds when they hear the word "mining."

Jeltema said the development of new equipment has resulted in such things as recycling waste products at a mining site, while more comprehensive reclamation efforts have resulted in certain types of grasses being planted in areas that were once mined so cattle can graze there and the areas can become habitats for migratory birds.

FLSmidth operates in 40 countries throughout the world and recently consolidated all its Utah activities into its new building, which will house engineers, technicians, support staff and other workers.