Australian iron ore miner Fortescue has announced that it has released the first hot metal at the Green Metal project located at Christmas My Creek in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
This stage is the first successful operation of the electric welding process of the project. According to Fortescue, the molten metal was initially produced using mixed raw materials during the commissioning phase. Commissioning This will continue in stages so that the company can test, refine and optimize the process before moving to larger scale production.
Fortescue Metals CEO Dino Otranto said the development marks another step towards industrial production of environmentally friendly metals in Australia, adding that the country could benefit more from its iron ore reserves by combining them with the potential of renewable energy sources.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in November 2023, Fortescue approved the construction of a pilot industrial pig iron production plant, Christmas Creek Green Iron, with an estimated investment of $50 million. The plant was originally planned to start production in 2025, and it was designed to produce more than 1,500 tons of pure cast iron per year using environmentally friendly hydrogen and renewable electricity generated from solar energy.
The unit combines fluidized bed technology based on circulating hydrogen Metso direct reduction technology using an electric furnace for direct reduction cast iron smelting. Circored technology makes it possible to use 100% environmentally friendly hydrogen and process the fine fraction of Pilbara iron ore without granulation, producing highly metallized direct reduction iron for an electric melting furnace. In September, the foundation was completed and the first Metso 2025 equipment was installed.
Fortescue began commissioning the facility during the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year and announced in early August that the first hot metal delivery was expected soon. The experimental facility is designed to test the technology and lay the foundation for future industrial production of pure metal using Pilbara iron ore.
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