The Australian Government is backing local innovation and manufacturing, pledging up to $26 million for technology to turn iron ore into lower-emission iron using renewable electricity.
The Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund, administered by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), is providing support to Element Zero as it tests whether Australian iron ore can be converted into high-purity iron at pilot scale using an electricity-based process powered by renewables.
The Honourable Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, says Element Zero’s project will create opportunities to add value to Australia’s iron ore resources, build specialist skills, and strengthen domestic industrial supply chains.
“Iron and steel production is one of the world’s largest industrial sources of emissions, as conventional ironmaking typically uses coal and other carbon-based materials to convert iron ore into iron,” Bowen says.
“Element Zero’s project will test whether an alternative process — electrochemical ironmaking, which is powered by electricity and uses molten salts — could produce lower-emissions iron efficiently without relying on coal.”
The pilot will test a process designed to operate at around 400–450°C, lower than the typical temperature used in ironmaking, and will be delivered in two stages. The first will focus on producing 1 tonne of iron per day, while the second stage, subject to formal review, will ramp production up to 10 tonnes per day. Element Zero currently operates a facility producing 10kg of iron per day in Perth.
The investment is part of ARENA’s efforts to develop a portfolio of projects focused on green iron production at scale, and aligns with the federal government’s priority of producing green metals domestically.
Bowen says the pilot brings together Australia’s iron ore industry and its ‘world-class’ renewable energy resources.
“This investment backs Australian technology that could add more value to Australian iron ore, support Australian manufacturing, and help cut emissions from one of the hardest parts of the global economy to decarbonise,” Bowen says.
Element Zero CEO Michael Masterman says that the funding is a key step in building Australia’s green iron industry.
“Australia has spent decades building a world-leading iron ore industry. The opportunity now is to capture five to six times the export value by converting iron ore to high-purity iron,” Masterman says.
“Our goal is to combine Australian iron ore, renewable electricity, and Australian-developed technology to produce green iron in Australia, rather than exporting our iron ore and leaving the value-adding to happen overseas.”
Element Zero’s electrochemical technology is being developed as an alternative to converting iron ore into high-purity iron without the direct carbon emissions associated with conventional carbon-based ironmaking.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Main image: Element Zero
