Green Iron opportunities in Australia

Annex C. The Australian green iron ecosystem

Table 3. A mapping of the Australian green iron ecosystem

	Green iron ambition	Raw material availability	Renewable energy	Demand
Iron ore producers
BHP		Hematite: Current production of 300 Mtpa. Goal of 330 Mtpa with planned expansions. Magnetite: No production	Goal of 550 MW of wind, solar, and battery storage in the Pilbara for electrification of mining operations.	For export, mainly to China.
Fortescue	☑	Hematite: Current production of 200 Mtpa. Magnetite: Current production of 1.6 Mt per quarter concentrate. Goal of 22 Mtpa by end 2025.	Current production of 60 MW through solar farm at the Chichester Hub powering the Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak mining operations. Goal of 190 MW solar farm at the Cloudbreak mine to decarbonise mining operations, and a Green Energy Hub at Christmas Creek with green hydrogen generated on-site (current electrolyser is 1.4 MW). Goal of additional 2-3 GW of renewable energy and battery storage by 2030.	Iron ore is exported mainly to China. Customers not yet identified for green iron but this would include the domestic market.
Hancock Prospecting		Hematite: Current production of 107 Mtpa. Goal of for 129 Mtpa total. Magnetite: No current production. Goal of 12 Mtpa with Bevan Project (51% owner).	No disclosed projects.	For export, mainly to China.
Rio Tinto		Hematite: Current production of 331 Mtpa. Goal of 400 Mtpa in the coming years. Magnetite: No production.	Goal of 80 MW solar farm near Karratha; two 100 MW solar farms and 200 MWh Battery Storage in the Pilbara.	For export, mainly to China.
Steel companies
Bluescope	1	Hematite: Currently purchase mostly from Rio Tinto Pilbara operations.	Current purchase agreement with the 174.9 MWp Finley Solar Farm in NSW.	Steel produced within Australia is predominantly consumed domestically
Liberty Primary Metals Australia (information relates to before Whyalla steelworks and related assets put into administration in February 2025)	☑	Hematite: GFG Alliance owns SIMEC Mining which supplied Whyalla Steelworks. Magnetite: Current production of 2.3 Mtpa. Goal of 7.5 Mtpa.	Current assets: 15-year power purchase agreement for 15 MW with the 128 MW Numurkah Solar Farm in Victoria. Planned: a proposed 280 MW solar farm near Whyalla; a planned 100 MW battery project in South Australia; conversion of the Iron Duchess mine into a 90 MW pumped hydro energy storage facility; Government-owned Whyalla Green Hydrogen Hub with 250 MW electrolyser, a 200 MW hydrogen-fueled power station, and a 100-tonne renewable hydrogen storage facility.	For domestic sale and export to Asian and European countries
POSCO	☑	Hematite: 25% stake in Hancock Prospecting Roy Hill mining operation, producing 60 Mtpa of iron ore, 16 of which are supplied to POSCO. The Port Hedland Iron project (PHI) will use beneficiated magnetite concentrate from Pilbara mining operations	Partnership with ENGIE for a pre-feasibility study for a green hydrogen plant.	Most of For use in Korean steelmaking operations
Emerging players
Green Steel WA	☑	Magnetite: No current production. Goal of integrated magnetite mines purchase in the Mid-West of WA.	Partnership with POSCO and ENGIE on a pre-feasibility study for a renewable hydrogen project in the Pilbara.	For domestic sale and export to Thailand
Green Iron SA (consortium)	☑	Magnetite: No current production. Planned 5 Mtpa with the Razorback Iron Ore Project..	No disclosed projects.	For domestic and export
Iron Road (consortium)	☑	Magnetite: No current production. Goal of 24 Mtpa.	Planned: partnered with Amp Energy to develop hydrogen production within the 1,207-hectare Cape Hardy Industrial Port Precinct which aims to establish up to 5 GW of renewable energy capacity over the next decade. Partnership with Vestas exploring the integration of wind power to supply green electricity for the CEIP.	For domestic and export
PGS	☑	Hematite: No current production. Goal of purchasing mines in Karara to supply the plant once beneficiated on site.	No disclosed projects.	For export

Sources: https://www.bhp.com/what-we-do/products/iron-ore ; https://metals.fortescue.com/en/articles/fortescue-s-iron-bridge-magnetite-project-marks-first-ore-into-processing-plant ; https://www.hancockprospecting.com.au/projects/mining/ ; https://www.riotinto.com/en/news/releases/2024/rio-tinto-releases-fourth-quarter-production-results ; https://reneweconomy.com.au/bhp-plans-550mw-of-wind-solar-and-storage-as-pilbara-mines-go-electric ; https://www.riotinto.com/news/stories/pilbara-renewables ; https://neoen.com/en/news/2018/neoen-franchit-le-cap-du-gigawatt-en-australiegigawatt-milestone-passed-for-neoen-in-australia-after-numurkah-solar-farm-reaches-financial-close ; https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/05/14/guptas-280-mw-cultana-solar-farm-waved-through-in-australia ; https://www.gfgalliance.com/about-us/energy/ ; https://arena.gov.au/news/south-australias-iron-duchess-mine-given-new-life-90mw-pumped-hydro-plant/ ;

Note

← 1.  Bluescope is not significantly focused on green iron production but is partnering with BHP and Rio Tinto to build an Electric Smelting Furnace (ESF) Pilot Plant in Kwinana to produce 30-40,000 tonnes of DRI (initially using natural gas with announced intentions to transition to green hydrogen) with the goal of demonstrating the suitability of Australian hematite ores in a DRI-ESF process.