Fortescue achieves “first hot metal” using electric smelting, as it seeks to solve Pilbara green iron puzzle

Fortescue’s mission to produce “green metal” using Pilbara ore has hit what the company says is a significant milestone, with the first production of molten metal using an electric smelting process at its Christmas Creek hub.

Fortescue chief executive Dino Otranto said on Wednesday that the iron ore giant has produced “first hot metal,” in this case using a blended ore feedstock in its electric smelting furnace.

The company and its billionaire founder Andrew Forrest had big ambitions to blaze a trail on green metal production and, as recently as 2024, had expected to produce more than 1,500 tonnes of green metal a year from the Christmas Creek facility starting in 2025.

The aim was to use green hydrogen produced on site, courtesy of local solar power, and an electric smelting furnace to produce the high purity green metal that would be suitable for use in any steel plant around the world.

The green hydrogen plant at Christmas Creek, which was commissioned in 2024, can produce around 530 kilograms of the renewable fuel a day, or around 195 tonnes a year with two 700 kW electrolysers.

Alongside its green metal ambitions, Fortescue also had grand plans to build enough green hydrogen facilities to produce 15 million tonnes a year, but in 2025 these plans were radically scaled back because there was no global market.

The company still intends to reach “real zero” emissions – which means no burning of fossil fuels – at its massive Pilbara operations by 2030, and is currently building more than 1.4 gigawatts of solar and up to one gigawatt of wind capacity to provide power for its mining operations and the huge electric haul trucks.

Otranto says commissioning of the Christmas Creek Green Metal Project will continue in stages, allowing the team to safely test, refine and optimise the process before progressing to larger-scale production.

“This is a significant milestone for our Green Metal Project and another step towards producing commercial-scale green metal in Australia,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Australia has some of the world’s best renewable energy resources and one of the world’s largest iron ore industries. That’s a competitive advantage we should be building on. If we don’t, other renewable-rich countries will.

“The real opportunity goes beyond green metal. It’s about building a new industrial economy around Australia’s renewable energy advantage.

“Nobody has solved green metal production using Pilbara ore at commercial scale yet. That’s the challenge we’re taking on.”

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