According to a statement from Brazilian miner Vale, the US Department of Energy announced that Vale USA was selected to begin award negotiations, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding, as part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program.
The project includes the construction of an iron ore briquette plant in the US, the first in the world using its cold-agglomeration process for briquettes, customized for the direct reduction route. The award negotiations will occur in mid-2024.
Announced by Vale in 2021, after almost 20 years of development in Vale’s technology center in Minas Gerais, the briquette is produced from the low-temperature agglomeration of high-quality iron ore, using a technological solution of binders which give the final product high mechanical strength.
The first plant with such technology was inaugurated in 2023, in Vitória, capital of the southeastern state of Espirito Santo.
According to the company, the selection by the US Department of Energy is a path for the validation of its cold-agglomeration technology, and its potential to deliver a transformative solution to decarbonize the steel sector.
The negotiation will cover an award for up to $282.9 million for the project, and looks to develop additional plants in Brazil and worldwide, to reach a yearly production capacity of 100 million mt until 2030, including briquettes and pellets.
The iron ore briquette contributes to achieving Vale’s commitment to reduce 15 percent of its scope 3 net emissions by 2035. The company also seeks to reduce its absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions by 33 percent by 2030 and achieve neutrality by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement ambition.