Location
Perth, Western Australia
Client
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and HILT CRC
Contact
BG&E Resources (BGER) has joined the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) funded research and development project that is leading research to enable the decarbonisation of Australia’s iron ore and steel industries.
Led by HILT CRC Ltd, in conjunction with HILT Partners Curtin University, Fortescue Roy Hill and MRIWA, the project aims to improve the commercial viability of a scalable hydrometallurgical caustic leaching process for low-grade iron ore beneficiation through the generation of reagents and valuable by-products from seawater brines using reverse osmosis (RO).
Utilising our multi-disciplinary engineering expertise, BGER is supporting the research and development process by advising on the technical and economic viability of the project and undertaking the engineering design of the process pilot plant.
This project was selected under the Transformative Research Accelerating Commercialisation (TRAC) Program to create solutions for Australian iron ore and to decarbonise domestic steel production.
Given the close proximity of the ore in the Pilbara to the ocean, the project will investigate the use of natural resources available to reuse various by-products from the processes towards repurposing.
It has the potential to generate additional by-product revenue to offset some of the hydrometallurgical beneficiation costs and produce higher-grade iron ores suitable for direct reduced iron (DRI) processing to generate domestic green steel.
The project demonstrates a coordinated effort to tackle challenges and explore opportunities in the field of low-emissions iron and steel. It has the potential to contribute significantly to the advancement of technological solutions required for low-carbon products to bring us closer to net zero.
Cover Image: Dr. Lina Hockaday in Curtin University Lab. Courtesy of HILT CRC.
