Japan's Kobe Steel Ltd. and Cleveland, Ohio-based mining company Cliffs Natural Resources are in talks to build an iron nugget plant in the US, possibly in the state of Michigan, according to a report in the Japanese Nikkei newspaper.
The plant would cost $200 million and would utilize Kobe Steel's ITmk3 technology to produce iron nuggets from a low-grade iron ore, providing the feedstock in EAF operations instead of steel scrap. If plans for the facility go through, the plant could begin operations in 2014.