Australia’s biggest iron ore producer Rio Tinto will bankroll a $215 million research facility in the heart of Rockingham’s industrial area in a bid to decarbonise the steelmaking process drastically.
The facility will trial using raw biomass and microwave energy, instead of coal, to convert Pilbara iron ore to metallic iron. The mining giant claims it has the capacity to reduce the process’ carbon emissions by up to 95 per cent.
Simon Trott, chief executive of Rio Tinto iron ore, at the Rhodes Ridge deposit in the Pilbara.
The low-carbon ironmaking process, branded BioIron, is the product of a decade-long in-house research initiative by the mining giant’s engineers.
The Anglo-Australian company’s investment pledge follows successful trials in a pilot plant in Germany and comes amid growing global demand for “green” steel.
The plant, earmarked for the Rockingham strategic industrial area south of Perth, will be ten times the size of the European pilot and capable of producing one tonne of direct reduced iron per hour.
In unveiling the plans in Rockingham on Tuesday, Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Simon Trott said the mining giant needed to do its part.
Steelmaking accounts for almost 70 per cent of Rio Tinto’s Scope 3 emissions, Scope 3 being the name given to emissions in a company’s value chain that while not created by its primary activity, it nonetheless remains accountable for to some degree.
“The steel industry currently produces around 8 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions, and that needs to change – and this facility could be a key component in driving that change,” Trott said.
“Rio Tinto has been privileged to be in the Pilbara for decades, and we intend to be here for decades more, so we need to do the work to make sure Pilbara iron ore is well positioned for green steel.
“This research and development facility will further test the BioIron process, showcase Western Australian innovation capability, and further demonstrates Rio Tinto’s commitment to supporting and enabling the decarbonisation of the steel industry.”
While the company’s primary focus has been ensuring the process is tailored to Pilbara iron ores, Trott said development of the technology could allow for other applications.
The iron-rich Pilbara is a major cash cow for the $178 billion mining giant, with its iron ore division accounting for about 80 per cent of its annual profit.
The company employs about 16,000 employees across its iron ore operation in the region, which comprises 17 mines, four port terminals and a 2000-kilometre rail network that aids the production of more than 330 million tonnes per annum.
The facility, designed alongside the University of Nottingham, Finnish engineering firm Metso Corporation and local engineering company Sedgman Onyx, is expected to create 60 jobs during construction and be completed in 2026.
Once complete, it is expected to employ 30 full-time staff and allow testing to scale up the BioIron technology.
WA Premier Roger Cook said the facility would aid the state government’s plan to make Western Australia a renewable energy powerhouse, and help strengthen the economy.
The Rockingham estate is one of 13 to benefit from the state government’s half-a-billion dollar fund to unlock industrial land and fast-track clean energy projects across WA.
The announcement comes just months after Rio announced it would join forces with BHP and BlueScope steel to develop the country’s first electric-smelting furnace.