Fortescue has produced the inaugural hot metal at its Green Metal Project in Christmas Creek, Western Australia (WA), marking the initial successful use of its electric smelting furnace.
The operation is part of a pilot project designed to test new technology and explore ways to produce green metal from Pilbara ore.
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The company reported that the facility generated molten metal as part of its staged commissioning process.
This early production utilised a blended feedstock while the smelting unit was gradually brought online.
Fortescue said the approach would allow for further testing and optimisation before scaling up to larger production volumes.
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.
“Australia has some of the world’s best renewable energy resources and one of the world’s largest iron ore industries. That is a competitive advantage we should be building on. If we don’t, other renewable-rich countries will.”
Located on Nyiyaparli Country in the Chichester Ranges, the Christmas Creek site has played a central role in Fortescue’s operations since ore production commenced there in 2009.
According to the company, the Green Metal Project has been established within the mining complex to trial lower-emission iron-making technologies in a real industrial setting.
The project forms part of Fortescue’s efforts to shift away from coal-based iron-making, which currently accounts for 8% of emissions in steel production.
Conventional iron production uses coal to extract oxygen from iron ore. Cutting back on coal use in this process is seen as an important step towards reducing emissions and the company is developing technologies to support this transition.
In April 2026, Fortescue announced a $680m (A$952.44m) investment to expand green energy infrastructure in the Pilbara region.
