Tag Archives: emission-free steel

Boston Metal to test molten oxide electrolysis tech on mining waste in Brazil

Environmental, Metallurgy, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , ,

Boston Metal, a global metals technology solutions company, says it will deploy its molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) platform technology to recover high-value metals from mining waste in Brazil.

The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Boston Metal do Brasil and major Brazilian refined tin producer Mineração Taboca S.A. have signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the use of Boston Metal’s MOE technology through a collaboration that, it says, seeks to advance the efficiency of metals production while demonstrating a sustainable and profitable solution for the mining industry. Mineração Taboca S.A produces not only refined tin, but other industrial minerals including niobium and tantalum.

Process development for the MoU will be performed at Boston Metal do Brasil, which opened in August, with construction underway on facilities in the municipality of Coronel Xavier Chaves near São João del Rei, Minas Gerais.

The company’s patented MOE technology uses electricity to selectively extract valuable metals from complex, low-concentration materials that are currently considered waste. This enables miners to reduce the financial and environmental liabilities of slag, by leveraging this natural by-product of metal production to create new revenue streams, Boston Metal says. Using renewable electricity, MOE can also be applied to convert all grades of iron ore into emissions-free steel, according to the company. Once this groundbreaking technology becomes commercially available by 2026, steel producers will be able to cost-effectively achieve net zero scope 1 and 2 emissions and meet growing global demand for green steel.

Itamar Resende, President of Boston Metal do Brasil, said: “MOE provides the metals industry with a more efficient, lower cost and greener solution to produce a variety of metals and alloys from a wide range of feedstocks. We’re looking forward to further developing our high-value metals business and demonstrating the efficiency of our MOE solution to transform mining waste into sources of revenue.”

Boston Metal expects commercialisation of the MOE technology for high-value metals to take place in 2023.

Boston Metal secures funds to help accelerate emissions-free steel transition

Environmental, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mining finance, Steel and iron ore, Sustainable mining, , , ,

Boston Metal has raised $50 million in Series B funding to further accelerate industrial-scale deployments of its molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) technology towards emissions-free steel.

The financing was led by Piva Capital, BHP Ventures, and Devonshire Investors.

Boston Metal’s MOE technology uses electricity to transform metals from a raw oxide form into high-purity molten metal products, facilitating CO2 emissions-free steel production from a wide array of iron ores in a potentially more efficient, less costly and more sustainable approach, the company claims.

Last year, CBMM, a leading supplier of niobium products and technology, and Boston Metal signed a strategic partnership to trial Boston Metal’s MOE technology for the production of niobium products.

Tadeu Carneiro, Chairman and CEO of Boston Metal, said: “Boston Metal is ushering in a new era of metallurgy. Steel production has relied on the same basic formula for millennia, and revolutionising such an industry requires a rare combination of team, technology, and partners. With this new round of funding, Boston Metal has brought together all of these elements and is positioned to deliver a future where steel production is efficient, modular and clean.”

Building on the momentum of its Series A financing in 2018, this new funding round will allow Boston Metal to validate its patented inert anode technology at industrial-scale, further expand its team, and begin to deploy its MOE technology with customers, starting with high-value ferroalloy production as it advances toward steel applications, the company said.

“Innovation is at the heart of Boston Metal, but we also benefit greatly from MOE’s unique ability to leverage proven principles from both the steel and aluminium industries,” Carneiro added. “We are building a technology and a company that can scale to meet the immense challenge of decarbonising steelmaking, and that new era of metallurgy is coming soon.

“We intend to deploy pilot plants globally within a few years’ time.”