Athena Resources (ASX:AHN) is looking to bolster the Mid West’s green iron footprint by collaborating with privately held Warradarge Energy and Fenix Resources (ASX:FEX) to expedite the Mid West Green Iron Project in Western Australia.
The parties intend to commercialise green iron through locally produced iron ore and green hydrogen under its recently signed memorandum of understanding agreement, which offers equal shareholdings.
The agreement sees three stages including the validation phase to test the feasibility of green iron production with magnetite produced from Athena’s Byro Magnetite Project, hydrogen produced from Warradarge’s Mid West Green Hydrogen Project, and logistic planning and port services from Fenix.
After confirming the technical practicality of this agreement, expected to be decided by late 2026, the parties will progress into demonstration with a small scale plant before reaching commercial production with a full scale plant.
CEO Peter Jones says partnering on the Mid West Green Iron Project provides a unique opportunity to produce “high-grade” products due to its quality, scale, location, and metallurgy.
“Warradarge Energy have a similar regional focus and synergistic scaled development plan for their Warradarge Green Hydrogen Project in the mid-west,” Jones says.
“Fenix, Athena’s largest shareholder, have the regional logistics solutions and balance sheet to support future project development and management of a green iron project.”
Jones adds that while Athena will continue to focus on production at its wholly owned Byro Magnetite Project, this partnership will allow the company to advance the market value of its iron products and bolster export opportunities.
The project hosts a resource of 29.3 million tonnes @ 24.7% iron at its FE1 deposit,
By eliminating the need for coal, green iron allows companies to reduce its carbon footprint when producing steel.
The Australian Government deployed $1 billion towards the Green Iron Investment Fund in March 2025, pushing manufacturing and supply chains to reach 852 million tonnes by 2050 to match the country’s net zero goals, as reported by Mining.com.au.
Iron ore is currently priced at US$96.7 ($147.31) per tonne, reflecting a 6.66% decrease so far this year to date, according to Trading Economics.
Global iron ore supply is expected to increase by 0.9% a year over the outlook period to 2027, with new supply coming online in Australia, Brazil and Africa.
Australia and Brazil – the world’s two largest producers – are expected to continue to collectively grow export volumes by 1.3% a year over the outlook period. Brazil is expected to grow iron ore exports by about 1.7% a year over the period.
Fenix Resources will be attending the Noosa Mining Investor Conference, held between 23-25 July, at the Peppers Noosa Resort. Mining.com.au is an official media partner of this year’s conference.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Athena Resources
