GILBERT,
Minn., May 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MagIron LLC
("MagIron" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has
produced, in laboratory testing, Direct Reduction ("DR") grade iron
ore pellets made from Minnesota
hematite and goethite mineral resources.
The pellets were produced in a mini-pot tester at the Natural
Resources Research Institute ("NRRI") of the University of Minnesota from iron ore concentrate
made using legacy iron-bearing materials representative of
stockpiles and tailings basins controlled by MagIron in the
Canisteo mining area of Itasca County,
Minnesota. Importantly, these DR pellets were produced using
biochar, rather than the traditional coke breeze or other coals,
creating a green credentialed DR grade iron ore pellet useful for
natural gas or hydrogen furnaces that produce direct reduced iron,
a critical enabler to decarbonize steel production.
These results build on the test work completed over the last 20
months to demonstrate that MagIron concentrate will produce pellets
with high iron and low gangue content, superior physical properties
and excellent iron making characteristics. The pellet test work was
performed under MagIron's direction by independent experts at the
NRRI.
Composition
|
MagIron DR
pellets
|
DR
specifications
|
Fe
|
67 %
|
Min. 67%
|
SiO2
|
2.6 %
|
|
Al2O3
|
0.3 %
|
|
SiO2 +
Al2O3
|
2.9 %
|
Max 3.0%
|
Sulfur
|
0.003 %
|
Max 0.008%
|
Phosphorus
|
0.04 %
|
Max 0.06%
|
Average CCS
(kg/pellet)
|
268
|
Min 250
|
CCS <150 kg
(%)
|
0 %
|
Max 3%
|
Tumble Index
(%+6.3mm)
|
97.8
|
Min 95.0
|
Larry Lehtinen, CEO of MagIron
said, "The successful production on a laboratory scale of our first
DR grade pellets is another significant leap forward in MagIron's
transformation and restart of the Plant 4 iron concentrator
facility in Minnesota. These
excellent results demonstrate that MagIron's exceptionally
high-quality DR grade concentrate has the potential to be converted
into top tier iron ore pellets that should be keenly sought by
operators of direct reduction furnaces in the US and abroad."
He added, "High quality raw materials such as MagIron's
concentrate and pellets are increasingly important to end users
seeking to increase productivity, reduce costs and curb emissions
in the steel-making process. This trend is likely to be more
pronounced in coming years as several industry commentators are
forecasting an impending shortage of DR grade iron ore pellets.
MagIron is well positioned to benefit from this trend given the
very large endowment of over 1 billion tonnes of DR grade feedstock
in close proximity to our Plant 4 facility, which supports a
multi-decade business plan. By using legacy iron ore units as feed
for our concentrator, MagIron will be recycling waste material into
a high-quality DR grade iron ore product, which itself is a key
ingredient for green steel. We continue to make advancements in
financing, engineering and permitting and we look forward to
providing further updates on our progress shortly."
About MagIron
MagIron was established to support and accelerate the
decarbonization of the steel industry by becoming a key supplier of
high quality, low carbon iron units which will be critical for the
future success and decarbonization of the US steel industry. The
Company is focused on the restart of Plant 4, a modern,
past-producing iron ore concentrator benefiting from over
$170 million of prior investment. The
facility has previously operated at an annualized run-rate of
approximately 2.0 million tonnes per annum ("mtpa") of BF grade
concentrate and was designed to expand to 3.0 mtpa relatively
quickly and at low capital intensity. Plant 4 is designed to
process previously discarded waste materials from historical mining
operations and convert such feed materials into high grade, low
impurity iron ore concentrate. Given the significant historical
mining operations across the Mesabi Iron Range in northern
Minnesota, there are vast amounts
of waste material close to Plant 4, which are suitable as feedstock
to support a multi-decade business plan.
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SOURCE MagIron LLC