Mitsubishi Corporation Archives - International Mining

Primetals Technologies, Mitsubishi Corporation, Fortescue and voestalpine have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at designing and engineering an industrial-scale prototype plant with a new process for net-zero-emission ironmaking at the voestalpine site in Linz, Austria.

The collaboration will also investigate the implementation and operation of the plant, the companies say.

The new ironmaking process will be based on Primetals Technologies’ HYFOR and Smelter solutions. HYFOR is, according to Primetals, the world’s first direct reduction process for iron ore fines that will not require any agglomeration steps, like sintering or pelletising. A pilot plant has been in operation since the end of 2021, and Primetals has run numerous successful test campaigns over the last year including successful trials on Fortescue’s Pilbara iron ore products.

The new Smelter technology from Primetals Technologies is a furnace powered by electrical energy. It is used for melting and final reduction of direct reduced iron (DRI) based on lower-grade iron ore. In that way, it produces alternative green hot metal for the steelmaking plant.

The project planning phase will be used to design an industrial-scale prototype plant with a capacity of between 3-5 t/h of ‘green’ hot metal. It is the first solution to link a hydrogen-based direct reduction plant for iron ore fines with a smelter, Primetals says.

The main goal of the project planning phase is to develop the basis for decision to realise a prototype plant capable of continuous operation, and then to gain the know-how needed for the next step: a commercial full-scale plant. Another target is to investigate the use of various types of iron ores to produce DRI, hot briquetted iron and hot metal and, as a next step, draw conclusions about the individual process steps as well as different combinations of them.

The hydrogen used in the new plant will mainly come from Verbund, voestalpine’s and Austria’s leading renewable energy producer, who operates a proton exchange membrane electrolyser named H2Future. Located in Linz, this plant has a capacity of over 6 MW, and is still the world’s largest of its kind used at a steel plant. The H2Future plant will be upgraded to allow for the compression and storage of hydrogen gas before use in the combined HYFOR and Smelter plant.

Hubert Zajicek, Member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and Head of the Steel Division, said: “voestalpine has a clear plan to decarbonise steel production with the greentec steel program. An important first step is the incremental shift from the blast furnace route to a hybrid-electric steel pathway from 2027.

“Over the long term, our mission is carbon-neutral steel production using green hydrogen, for which we are already undertaking intensive research into promising breakthrough technologies. With the joint project with Primetals Technologies and Fortescue, we are taking another new path towards achieving the goal of CO2-neutral steel production by 2050.”

Fortescue’s main responsibility in the new project is to provide knowledge about iron ore quality and preparation. In addition, Fortescue will supply various iron ores for the new plant.

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) CEO, Mark Hutchinson, said the partnership was the perfect alignment of the company’s mining and renewable energy goals.

Anglo American plc has announced first production of copper concentrate from its Quellaveco project in Peru – a major milestone as Quellaveco nears completion ahead of receiving final regulatory clearance for commercial operations to begin.

Tom McCulley, who has led Anglo American’s development of Quellaveco, said: “First copper production at Quellaveco is a key milestone in our delivery of this world-class asset, on time and on budget. The fact that we are today producing copper less than four years after project approval, including through two years of considerable pandemic-related disruption, is testament to the strength of our commitment to our workforce, local communities, the Moquegua region and government stakeholders in Peru. This first production of copper concentrate marks the beginning of the normal period of testing the processing plant with ore and the ramping up of mining activities to demonstrate readiness for operations.”

Adolfo Heeren, CEO of Anglo American in Peru, added: “Quellaveco is a project for all of Peru and especially for the Moquegua region. Once in full operation, Quellaveco alone will increase Peru’s copper production by around 10%, and deliver sustainable benefits for decades to come, including 2,500 direct jobs, the incorporation of local suppliers into our supply chain, the increase of water sources for human consumption and irrigation, digital connectivity, the expansion of agricultural areas and tax revenues. By working together in partnership, we will deliver enduring positive outcomes for all our stakeholders.”

Quellaveco is an open-pit copper mine located in the Moquegua region in the south of Peru. Construction started in 2018, with estimated total capex of $5.5 billion, which includes the $600 million additional cost of managing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. In 2021, Anglo American also approved the construction of a Coarse Particle Recovery plant to allow retreatment of coarse particles from flotation tailings to further enhance copper recovery rates. Other technology innovations include the use of autonomous haulage operations – with a fleet of Caterpillar 794 ACs – and autonomous drilling operations – with Epiroc Pit Viper 351s. These are being overseen by an Integrated Operations Centre which recently started up.

Quellaveco is expected to produce 300,000 t/y of copper-equivalent on average over the first 10 years of operation, at a highly competitive C1 unit cost of circa $0.95/lb over the first five years once the operation reaches full production capacity.

Quellaveco has an estimated 1,700 Mt of reserves, 8.9 Mt of contained copper at 0.53% TCu, and a 36-year reserve life, with potential for further expansion given its estimated additional resources at 1,600 Mt, containing 6.1 Mt copper (at 0.38% TCu).

Anglo American expects that Quellaveco will reach design production capacity in 12 months. Production guidance for 2022 is 100,000–150,000 t of copper at a C1 unit cost of circa $1.35/lb. Production guidance for 2023 and 2024 is 320,000–370,000 t.

Quellaveco is owned 60:40 between Anglo American and Mitsubishi Corporation.

Primetals, Mitsubishi, Fortescue and voestalpine team up to tackle net-zero emission ironmaking

Anglo American produces first copper concentrate from Quellaveco