Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has achieved a “breakthrough” by successfully processing ‘green’ iron ore.

The announcement could mark a significant step towards eliminating the use of fossil fuels in the steel-making industry, which is one of the world's most polluting industries. 

FFI says the technology is coal and carbon-free and uses a chemical electrolysis process powered by renewable energy. 

The process was initially proven in the company's Western Australia laboratories, where the team produced a few milligrams of metallic iron in the laboratory, proving the effectiveness of the chemical process. Since then, the company has produced 150kg of zero-carbon metallics using the technology in the lab.

Although the details of the technology have been closely guarded, the company revealed that its iron ore is converted to metallic iron using electrolysis, in which an electric current is used to remove oxygen from the iron oxide ore at a low temperature, eliminating the need for coal. 

FFI's technology has now advanced from the lab to a pilot plant, a significant development according to FFI CEO Mark Hutchinson. 

Although the steel industry is enormous, the company intends to scale up the technology and reduce its costs to make it competitive with traditional steelmaking processes.

“We know the world is going to want iron ore and steel for a long time, but the level of emissions coming from that process is unsustainable,” he said. 

“We need a greener industry powered by green energy. The fact that the technology developed by our FFI team can come out of the laboratory and into a pilot plant is a key milestone because it shows that a real-world application has potential.”