Fortescue has produced its first hot metal at the Green Metal Project located at its Christmas Creek facility, achieving the first successful operation of its proprietary electric smelting process in Western Australia.
The pilot project was developed to test new processing technologies and establish a commercially viable pathway for manufacturing green metal using Pilbara iron ore. First hot metal indicates that the facility’s electric smelting furnace has successfully generated molten metal, which was initially produced using a blended feedstock as part of phased commissioning.
Operations will continue through progressive commissioning stages, enabling technical teams to refine, test, and optimise the electric smelting furnace prior to scaling up production.
Highlighting the strategic importance of the trial, Dino Otranto, Chief Executive Officer of Fortescue Metals, stated that achieving first hot metal was a significant milestone for the project and a critical step towards producing commercial-scale green metal in Australia.
He explained that while Australia had exported raw iron ore for decades, the next structural opportunity lay in capturing greater value by processing green metal onshore. Pointing to Australia’s abundant renewable energy resources and large-scale iron ore deposits, he noted that the country possessed a distinct competitive advantage that needed to be developed locally before other renewable-rich nations stepped in.
He added that the broader opportunity extended beyond green metal to building a new industrial economy centred on Australia’s renewable energy assets, acknowledging that while no organisation had yet solved commercial-scale green metal production using Pilbara ore, it was a technical challenge Fortescue was actively taking on.
