Modern Mining July 2025

IRON-ORE OUTLOOK

Drilling at the Kallak Project.

The race for high-grade iron ore to satisfy green steel demand Iron ore is by far the world’s most abundantly consumed metal, with consumption reaching an estimated 3.495 billion metric tonnes in 2024, according to an IndexBox report. But with three-quarters of steelmaking involving burning polluting hydrocarbons, high-grade iron ore miners are hoping to enact change, and cash in, by supplying a feedstock for the decarbonised alternative – green steel.

T he world uses 20 times more iron, in the form of steel, than all other metals combined, according to BHP. Steel is vital to facilitating modern life, with heavy use in construction, transport, healthcare and traditional and renewable energy infrastructure. To enable these sector applications, daily steel production is astronomically high; 548 Eiffel Towers could be built with just a day’s worth of global steel production. As the world has developed, modernised and globalised, so too has steel production. Since 2000, global production has expanded by one billion tonnes, reflecting the growth of Asian markets, and numerous advancements have been made to improve its efficiency; the steel of today is not only stronger than the steel of the past, but it is also a third lighter. In 2021, 2.8 billion tonnes (Bt) of metals were mined globally; 2.6Bt were iron ore (Visual Capitalist) The latest advancement in steel centres on its capacity to improve its environmental credentials. In 2022, 75% of steelmaking involved using coal to reduce iron ore in blast furnaces, accounting for 7% of all global greenhouse gases. The International Energy Agency estimates that emissions from the iron and steel sector must fall more than 50% by 2050, relative to 2019, in order to meet global energy and climate goals. The answer, many feel, is green steel, which the World Economic Forum defines as steel manufactured “without the

use of fossil fuels”. Direct Reducing Iron (DRI) steelmaking, which uses hydrogen in place of coal, is becoming a popular ‘green’ production method, and emits a quarter of the CO2 emissions of blast furnace steelmaking, according to Singapore Exchange. Electric Arc Furnaces, powered by electricity, are another green alternative to blast furnaces. According to IEEFA, only high-grade iron ore, with an iron content over 67%, is suitable as feedstock for green steel as it ensures efficient reduction and reduces impurities that may disrupt the process. As the world looks to transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels to meet emission reduction targets, there is a growing demand for iron ore that is amenable to production via DRI processes. In turn, the emphasis is placed on miners to deliver these resources, requiring increased global efforts to bring mines that can yield a high-grade iron ore product into production. Zanaga Iron Ore Company (ZIOC), led by CEO Marty Knauth, is the developer of the Zanaga Project in the Republic of Congo. The company believes that with the right support and investment, it can successfully achieve high-grade iron ore production. The Zanaga Project holds Africa’s largest known iron ore reserve of 2.1 billion tonnes from a mineral resource of 6.9 billion tonnes. The company is targeting production of 30 million tonnes per annum of high-grade pellet feed concentrates, grading up to 68.5% iron, over an initial 30 year mine life. The products, the

8  MODERN MINING  www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | JULY 2025