Fortescue Metals has produced the first hot metal at its Christmas Creek Green Metal Project in Western Australia, which features a direct reduced iron (DRI) smelting furnace supplied by Metso.
The project, located in the Pilbara region, is testing new low-emission technologies for processing iron ore.
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Metso supplied the core design and technology, with installation of the electric DRI smelting furnace beginning in September 2025.
The project aims to evaluate the potential of Metso’s technology to process local iron ore fines via lower-emission iron-making routes, moving away from traditional blast furnace methods.
Fortescue CEO Dino Otranto said: “This is a significant milestone for our Green Metal Project and another step towards producing commercial-scale green metal in Australia.
“For decades Australia has exported iron ore to the world. The next opportunity is to create more value from that ore by producing green metal here at home.”
The DRI smelting furnace is designed to produce high-quality iron units with lower emissions.
Metso stated that the furnace enables iron-making from ore reserves in the Pilbara that have previously been considered unsuitable for direct reduction due to higher gangue content.
The company’s technology, developed as part of its Outotec range, uses proprietary equipment to process blast furnace-grade iron ore and is intended to support decarbonisation efforts in the steel industry.
Metso minerals president Piia Karhu said: “We congratulate Fortescue on this significant step forward. The production of first hot metal at the Christmas Creek Green Metal Project demonstrates the role of Metso’s DRI smelting furnace technology in advancing lower-emission iron-making.
“The project will provide important learnings as Fortescue works towards developing a pathway for green iron production at scale using Pilbara ore. We are proud to support Fortescue in this pioneering work.”
Metso’s pilot furnace is intended to demonstrate both equipment and process features that could apply to industrial-scale operations.
It works in combination with direct reduction plants and is being tested alongside circular alternating current and direct current electric furnaces at the Metso Research Center in Pori, Finland.
Earlier this month, Metso signed an agreement with the Geological Survey of Finland to engineer and deliver process technology for GTK Mintec’s new pilot plant in Outokumpu, Finland.
