Ground breaks at Christmas Creek green iron plant

Ground has broken at Fortescue’s (ASX: FMG) $75.4m (US$50m) Christmas Creek green iron metal project in WA, marking a key step towards developing a green iron industry in the State.

The project will produce iron using green hydrogen, which will be suitable for use in almost any steel plant across the globe.

It aims to produce green iron metal by the end of 2025, creating a catalyst for the next generation of Australia’s green iron industry.

WA Premier Roger Cook congratulated Fortescue on this achievement.

“WA is on its way to becoming a global clean energy powerhouse, and a major producer, user and exporter of green iron,” he said.

“Hydrogen has an important role to play in remote areas like mine sites, helping to create our State’s green iron supply chain, reduce our reliance on diesel and slash emissions on site.

“Congratulations to Fortescue on their work to decarbonise their operations, which is showing the way for the resources industry right around the world.”

Fortescue’s $33.8m Christmas Creek renewable hydrogen mobility project is also operational and includes 10 hydrogen fuel-cell coaches.

These hydrogen-powered coaches replace the company’s fleet of diesel coaches for transporting crew at Christmas Creek and run on renewable hydrogen produced on-site through electrolysis.

The facility is expected to produce around 195tpa of renewable hydrogen and is part of Fortescue’s efforts to decarbonise mining operations by 2030.

Fortescue chief executive Dino Otranto commented on the milestone.

“Fortescue is moving at rapid speed to decarbonise and the completion of our hydrogen facility, which is the largest gaseous and liquid hydrogen plant on any mine site in Australia, is a testament to our commitment to leading heavy industry in decarbonising,” he said.

“Hydrogen and fuels made using renewable energy will have a role to play in decarbonising mining, whether it’s in buses, heavy mining equipment such as haul trucks and excavators, or producing green iron.

“This renewable hydrogen plant is versatile, enabling us to produce gaseous and liquid hydrogen to be used to power our mining equipment prototypes, while also providing the added benefit of refuelling our fleet of coaches at Christmas Creek.”