Australia-based miner Rio Tinto has announced that it will invest US$143 million to develop a research and development facility in Western Australia to test its low-carbon ironmaking process, BioIronTM, in line with its commitment to support decarbonization of the global steel value chain. With the facility, the innovative steelmaking process will be tested at a semi-industrial scale and will be capable of producing one metric ton of direct reduced iron per hour.
BioIron uses raw biomass and microwave energy instead of coal to convert Pilbara iron ore to metallic iron in the steelmaking process. When combined with renewable energy, BioIron has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 95 percent compared to the current blast furnace method.
Fabrication of the equipment will begin this year and the commissioning is scheduled for 2026.
