Rio Tinto, BHP, BlueScope to Partner on Low-Carbon Steel From Iron Ore

By Rhiannon Hoyle

Iron-ore miners Rio Tinto and BHP Group said they will partner with steelmaker BlueScope Steel to consider the development of Australia's first electric-smelting furnace pilot plant that would make low-carbon steel from iron ore.

The companies will jointly aim to demonstrate they can produce molten iron from Pilbara ore using renewable power in combination with so-called direct reduced iron, or DRI, technology, they said in a joint statement on Friday. The trio will look at a number of locations in Australia for the proposed pilot plant which, if approved, could be commissioned as early as 2027, they said.

Rio Tinto and BHP are two of the world's biggest iron ore miners--alongside Brazil's Vale--and iron ore from Australia's Pilbara region accounts for more than half of global exports. Today, that ore mostly feeds blast furnaces in Asia that require coal to make steel.

If the pilot is successful, "it could help open a potential pathway to near-zero greenhouse gas emission-intensity operations for steelmakers that rely on Australian iron ore to meet global steel demand," the companies said in the statement.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2024 19:10 ET (00:10 GMT)

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