Until now, climate‑neutral steel production has only been feasible using premium ores with an iron content of roughly 70%.

These ores, however, are scarce and expensive worldwide. Moreover, existing processes require the use of a shaft furnace, which in turn demands cost‑ and energy‑intensive pelletising of the ore.

For the first time, untreated Australian iron-ore with a comparatively low 56% iron content has been processed into DRI at industrial scale at Namibia’s Oshivela site, where project partner HyIron Green Technologies operates the innovative hydrogen rotary kiln.