METSIM International

What METSIM International does

METSIM International, LLC is a privately held software company that develops and licenses METSIM®, a general-purpose process simulation system purpose-built for the mining and metallurgical industries. The platform, built on the APL programming language (current release v2026.03 powered by Dyalog APL, succeeding the legacy APL+Win build), performs mass and energy balances across complex chemical and metallurgical processes. METSIM includes over 200 specialized unit operations spanning comminution, flotation, leaching, roasting, smelting, heat exchange, and heap leaching, with optional modules for dynamic simulation, equilibrium chemistry (via an OLI Systems API integration), heat balancing, mine planning, cost estimation, and equipment sizing.

The company monetizes METSIM through a combination of perpetual and subscription software licenses (with USB or digital key activation), add-on modules, and tiered multi-year service plans that bundle consulting hours, training, and access to latest-version updates. A reduced-cost Run Time version is gated to active service subscribers. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales with a global network of agents and trainers delivering localized support and training in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin across the Americas and Australasia, supplemented by a self-serve 14-day trial, YouTube tutorials, free webinars, and a quarterly newsletter.

METSIM International was formally established as an LLC in July 2018, spun out from the core group that had owned and operated the METSIM software since its first commercial release in the early 1980s. The company remains privately held with no institutional or PE investors, is headquartered in Churubusco, Indiana, and operates with a lean team of 1-10 employees serving mining companies, mineral processing facilities, metallurgical plants, and chemical engineering firms globally.

Name

METSIM International

Legal name

METSIM International, LLC

Website

https://metsim.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

METSIM International develops METSIM®, an APL-based process simulation software for mining and metallurgical companies, offering mass and energy balancing, equipment sizing, and dynamic simulation across 200+ unit operations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Churubusco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: METSIM software is licensed as a perpetual or subscription license with USB key or digital key activation. The base module is required to run METSIM and includes a single user key.
2. Service Plans: Tiered service packages offering blocks of consulting hours for model audits, customized training, and other consulting needs. Service plans include access to the latest version of METSIM. Multi-year contracts (2-3 years) offer significant savings on consulting hours.
3. Run Time Version: A reduced-cost runtime version of METSIM that allows users to calculate and analyze models with limited editing capabilities. All other model edits are done by MSI team members. Only available with a service plan.
4. Add-on Modules: Additional specialized modules available for purchase including Engineering, Heat Balance, Operating Cost, Comminution/Gravity Separation, Mine, Contouring, Dynamic Simulation/Heap Leaching, and Equilibrium modules.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

METSIM® is a general-purpose process simulation system built on the APL programming language that performs mass and energy balances for complex metallurgical and chemical processes. It ships with more than 200 unit operations covering crushing, grinding, flotation, leaching, roasting, smelting, and heat exchange, and supports five simulation modes (mass balancing, equipment sizing, steady-state, parameterization, and dynamic). The platform is extended through add-on modules for heap leaching, comminution, equilibrium chemistry, heat balance, operating cost, mine planning, contouring, and engineering, and integrates with Excel, InTouch, AutoCAD, and OLI Systems' electrolyte models.

Product overview

METSIM International offers METSIM®, an all-in-one process simulation platform for mining and metallurgical operations. The core METSIM® platform provides mass and energy balancing, flowsheeting with over 200 unit operations, and full APL programming language access. Add-on modules extend functionality: Base/Mass Balance Module is required to run the software; Dynamic Simulation & Heap Leaching Module handles time-dependent processes; Equilibrium Module integrates OLI Systems API for electrolyte chemistry; Heat Balance Module calculates thermal properties; Contouring Module enables 3D mine modeling; Operating Cost Module generates cost reports; Comminution & Gravity Separation Module optimizes crushing and grinding; Mine Module links mine planning to plant simulation; and Engineering Module handles equipment sizing and instrumentation. A Run Time version is available for users who need limited model editing capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• METSIM®: All-in-one process modeling software solution for mining and metallurgical operations. General-purpose process simulation system designed to assist engineers in performing mass and energy balances of complex processes. Includes over 200 unit operations and multiple modules for dynamic simulation, heat balance, heap leaching, and more.

Products and services

• METSIM® Process Simulation Platform General-purpose process simulation system that performs mass and energy balances of complex metallurgical and chemical processes. Built on the APL programming language with a full graphical interface and more than 200 unit operations covering crushing, grinding, flotation, leaching, roasting, smelting, heat exchange, and more. Licensed to mining and metallurgical engineering teams worldwide.
• Base/Mass Balance Module Required add-on module that performs mass balance calculations around each unit operation and includes chemical, mineral beneficiation, and hydrometallurgical models. Includes Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) for Excel linking.
• Dynamic Simulation & Heap Leaching Module Adds dynamic modeling for time-varying parameters with schedules and logic controllers, plus a heap leach module for mass balances including chemical reactions, precipitation, evaporation, solids and water inventories, and heap drainage control.
• Equilibrium Module Provides electrolyte chemistry simulation through an API integration to OLI Systems' Electrolyte Simulations embedded in the METSIM user interface. Supports lithium processing, hydroxide/carbonate precipitation, CCD circuits, heap leaching, and solvent extraction models.
• Heat Balance Module Performs heat balance calculations around each unit operation using an extensive thermodynamic database with eight phases of state; reports temperatures, heat contents, heat losses, and heats of reaction including pyrometallurgical models.
• Contouring Module Builds complex mine, stockpile, heap leach, and tailings models from DXF contour files, including 3D models and live-time material tracking through processes.
• Operating Cost Module Generates operating cost tables from flowsheet model data in spreadsheet format, itemized by flowsheet section, unit operation, and cost types (labor, materials, reagents); supports multiple currencies.
• Comminution & Gravity Separation Module Calculates consistent plant material balances and simulates comminution circuits for crushing, grinding, classification, and gravity separation. Includes dense media separation and coal preparation washability models; documented throughput improvements up to 30%.
• Mine Module Imports drill-hole data, mine block models, and mining sequences; links the mine plan to the plant model via Ore Tonnes and Grade (OTG) feature or Mine Block Model import for dynamic simulation over mine life.
• Engineering Module Sizes equipment, generates equipment lists, adds instrumentation, generates instrumentation lists, and simulates the process control system for engineering projects.
• Run Time Version Reduced-cost limited version of METSIM that allows calculation and analysis of models with restricted editing capabilities; full edits handled by the MSI team. Only available bundled with a service plan.
• METSIM Service Plans Tiered multi-year (2-3 year) subscription service packages combining blocks of MSI consulting hours for model audits, customized training, and design assistance with access to the latest METSIM version. Multi-year commitments yield savings exceeding $100,000 versus standard rates.
• METSIM Training (Introductory, Advanced, Heap Leach & Mine) Standard and customizable training programs delivered virtually or on-site in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin by MSI's global network of agents and trainers; covers flowsheeting, dynamic simulation, process control, heap leach modeling, and mine-to-plant integration.

Quantifiable outcome

• Throughput improvements up to 30% realized through METSIM modeling of crushing and grinding circuits

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• OLI Systems, Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationThe Equilibrium Module in METSIM includes an API integration to OLI Systems' Electrolyte Simulations, seamlessly integrated into the METSIM user interface. This partnership enables complex chemistry-related design and operations challenges to be solved with OLI's first principles-based models, including lithium processing, hydroxide/carbonate precipitation, CCD circuits, heap leaching, and solvent extraction.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Aspen Technology (AspenTech): AspenTech is the dominant process-simulation vendor (Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS, Aspen DMC3) across chemicals, refining, and increasingly mining/metallurgy. It is the most significant competitor to METSIM in steady-state process simulation, with much broader functionality and a public-company R&D budget.
• AVEVA: AVEVA (formerly part of Schneider Electric) provides process simulation, digital-twin, and plant-design software (AVEVA PRO/II, AVEVA Dynamic Simulation) used in chemicals, power, and mining. It overlaps directly with METSIM's mass-and-energy-balance use cases but serves a broader industrial portfolio.
• MathWorks (MATLAB/Simulink): MathWorks' MATLAB and Simulink are widely used by process and control engineers for dynamic simulation, model-based design, and digital-twin development. They overlap with METSIM's dynamic-simulation and PID-control capabilities, though used as a general engineering platform.
• ANSYS: ANSYS provides multiphysics engineering simulation (Ansys Chemkin, Fluent) used in chemical reaction engineering, reactor design, and process equipment modeling. It is an indirect competitor to METSIM at the broader engineering-simulation layer for industrial customers.
• Honeywell Forge Process Simulation (UniSim): Honeywell's UniSim Design and related process-simulation suite target refining, gas processing, and chemical plant design, with growing minerals-processing reach. It is a broader incumbent that competes for the same enterprise engineering budgets as METSIM.
• KBC (Yokogawa): KBC (now part of Yokogawa Electric) offers process simulation (Petro-SIM, Visual Mesa) widely used in oil & gas, refining, and increasingly chemicals and energy-transition process design. It competes with METSIM in process-engineering workflows but with a different industry concentration.
• COMSOL: COMSOL Multiphysics is a general-purpose engineering simulation platform used for coupled physics, including chemical reaction engineering modules. It overlaps with METSIM's process-control and reactor-modeling use cases but uses a different (finite-element) modeling paradigm.

Direct peers

• SysCAD: SysCAD is a steady-state and dynamic process simulation package targeted at mineral processing, hydrometallurgy, and pyrometallurgy, with a comparable user base of mining and metallurgical engineers. It is the closest functional niche competitor to METSIM in mineral-processing simulation.
• Metso (HSC Chemistry): Metso's HSC Chemistry (originally Outotec) is a process-simulation tool widely used in metallurgical research and plant design for pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and minerals processing. It is the most direct competitor to METSIM specifically in mining/metallurgy simulation workflows.

Others

• OLI Systems: OLI Systems is the provider of the electrolyte-simulation engine embedded in METSIM's Equilibrium Module. It is both a technology partner and an adjacent competitor, as OLI's standalone platform can be used independently for electrolyte chemistry in mining and chemical processing.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLJePE6AIV_eghkZKc80jXo1B2Dum_ywRq
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/metsim-international-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about METSIM International