Warradarge to collaborate on Mid-west hydrogen-based green iron project

Key highlights

• Joint development: Athena, Warradarge Energy, and Fenix (collectively the parties) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) whereby the parties will work together to plan and establish a new Mid-west Green Iron Project in Western Australia.
• Green iron: the ambition of the project is ultimately to produce commercial quantities of direct reduction iron ore products using locally mined Mid-West ultra-high grade iron ores and locally produced green hydrogen using available technology solutions.
• Dedicated Development Co.: under the Agreement a new company will be established, Mid-west Green Iron Pty Ltd, with equal shareholdings between the Parties, to act as the project development vehicle.
• Leveraging capabilities: Mid-west Green Iron Pty Ltd brings together three focused regional entities, Athena, Warradarge Energy, and Fenix, with the essential assets and capabilities that have the potential to develop a Mid-west Green Iron Project.
• Stage approach: the project is intended to be developed in stages with initial ore samples trailed using Green Iron reduction technologies, followed by a pilot plant near Eneabba, and ultimately an industrial scale DRI plant supplied by Athena’s high grade magnetite ore and supported by Fenix Resource’s mine-to-port logistics network.
• Hydrogen offtake: Mid-west Green Iron will act as the sole offtake of Warradarge Energy’s Booloogoo Hydrogen Project (750 MW) currently under development and located south of Eneabba, Western Australia.

Mid-West Green Iron Project

Green iron is a description of iron products that have been produced via sustainable processes using carbon neutral energy (such as hydrogen rather than coal or natural gas or other fossil fuels). Producing green iron requires the purification of iron ore where hydrogen replaces coking coal in the reduction process. If the hydrogen used in the reduction process is produced using renewable energy, then the resulting purified iron can be produced with a reduction in carbon emissions by as much as 90% compared to traditional processes. Currently, steel production is responsible for approximately 8% of worldwide carbon emissions and so green iron is an important opportunity to significantly reduce global emissions. In addition to the environmental benefits, green iron is also an opportunity to develop more efficient steel making technologies, diversify the iron ore and steel economy, and support the development of renewable energy sources and other environmentally positive outcomes.

Western Australia’s Mid-west has been identified as a region that has the potential to be a global leader in green iron production due to the potential to produce low-cost hydrogen from available renewable energy resources (wind and solar), the abundance of un-developed magnetite resources with potential to produce high-grade iron ore concentrates, overlaid with a lower cost operating environment than other iron ore production regions. The Mid-west Green Iron Project leverages each of these advantages by combining the high quality Magnetite resource at Byro (100% owned by Athena), with the low-cost renewable energy and hydrogen at Warradarge, supported the existing infrastructure and export capacity of Fenix resources’ iron ore handling network.

Athena’s Byro Magnetite Project, acting as the primary supplier to the Mid-west Green Iron Projecty, has the potential to produce a 70% Fe grade concentrate and so is ideally suited for potential Green Iron applications.

The Mid-west Green Iron Project is intended to be developed by the parties in three stages:

Validation: magnetite concentrate samples from the Bryo Magnetite Project are used for testing using innovative technologies and processes to confirm the feasibility of the reduction process and demonstrate the best development pathway. The validation phase is intended to provide confidence that high value pellet or briquette green iron can be produced sustainably and economically in the mid-west. The target date for completion of the validation phase is the end of calendar 2026.

Demonstration: confirmation of technical feasibility from the Validation phase is expected to enable the development of a small scale green iron demonstration plant in the Mid-west. The demonstration plant is expected to be modular and to provide multi-user downstream processing opportunities. The parties are open to further partnership opportunities in the development of the pilot plant and see significant potential for future collaboration and funding agreements with government and non-government partners.

Commercial production: demonstration of the viability of the Mid-west production of green iron will support the development project of a full scale production plant. The ultimate ownership and operation of the commercial production facility will depend on the final technology solution with opportunities to broaden the partnership model to include additional project partners. The expectation of the parties is that high grade magnetite concentrate feedstock will be sourced from Athena’s Byro Magnetite Project, green hydrogen will be supplied from Warradarge Energy’s Mid-west Green Hydrogen Project, and logistics and port services provided by Fenix’s 100% owned logistics provide Newhaul Pty Ltd.

Mid-West Green Iron Pty Ltd agreement

The project vehicle, Mid-West Green Iron Pty Ltd, has been created subject to a binding MoU agreement whereby the Parties, Athena, Warradarge Energy and Fenix, are equal shareholders in the new entity.

The intention of the parties’ agreement is to partner in the scoping and development of the production of green iron in the Mid-west jointly and collaboratively. The agreement defines the potential stages of project development (as outlined above) and provides flexible terms to allow parallel development of each parties components as well as the potential addition of new partners in future.

The parties will work to further define the project through targeted technical studies and may establish commercial agreements to secure the foundational rights of the project, such as land, power, iron ore, water, hydrogen, transport services, and other project inputs.

A key area of partnership will be advocacy for favourable policies to support the development of green iron projects as well as the identification of potential sources of finance to enable the project.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/15072025/warradarge-to-collaborate-on-mid-west-hydrogen-based-green-iron-project/