The Brazilian arm of Norway’s Norsk Hydro unveiled plans to build a pilot plant to produce pig iron from bauxite wastes.
According to Hydro Brazil, the plant will be built in Barcarena, in the northeastern state of Pará, adjacent to Alunorte, the alumina refinery operated by Hydro.
The pilot plant will require investments estimated at $50 million, to be funded by New Wave, which controls Wave Aluminum.
When bauxite is processed to produce alumina, the wastes show iron contents in the 28-30 percent range, which is upgraded to 70 percent with the use of microwaves, under the technology developed by Wave Aluminum.
With such iron contents, the ore can be processed to produce DRI (Direct Reduction Iron) in electric arc furnace, in this case with energy supplied by local renewable sources.
In its pilot configuration, the plant will produce 50,000 mt of DRI per year.