Rio Tinto to attempt producing low-carbon iron in Canada

The world’s second largest miner Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) has teamed up with two European companies to explore production of low-emissions hot briquetted iron (HBI) in Canada, amid increasing pressure from stakeholders to make steelmaking a more environmentally-friendly activity.

The mining giant, which has been working on cutting the sector emissions since 2019,  has inked a memorandum of understanding with Luxembourg-based engineering firm Paul Wurth S.A. and German steelmaker SHS-Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA.

The partners will explore the viability of transforming iron ore pellets into low-carbon hot briquetted iron (HBI), a low-carbon steel feedstock, using green hydrogen generated from hydro-electricity in Canada.