Rio Tinto | Minerals and Metals for the world

HIsmelt's green light for the future
Ralph Mills looks at the significance of a revolutionary process that has just won environmental approval in Western Australia.

On the coast of Western Australia, 40km south of Perth, the beached remains of the SS Kwinana have rested in Cockburn Sound for over 80 years, her limestone filled hulk forming part of a jetty. In 1922, the local shopkeeper began to stamp postbags "Kwinana Wreck". A community grew, and from the 1950s onwards the town of Kwinana expanded rapidly to form one of the region's principal industrial hubs, with an oil refinery and grain silos.

Kwinana, an Aboriginal word meaning "pretty maiden", probably faced a quiet future as an important industrial suburb of Perth. But instead Kwinana is likely to become known as the location of a major leap into the industrial future.

For it is here that Rio Tinto is working towards the large scale production of pig iron using its revolutionary HIsmelt® process, after environmental approval was granted late last year by the Western Australian State Government for the construction of a new smelter.

HIsmelt® is a development that could eventually spell the end of scores of aging and environment threatening coking and sinter plants throughout the world, along with significant reductions in releases of greenhouse gases and negligible releases of other pollutants. It could also enable the economic smelting of iron ores, the market for which is currently limited by traditional iron and steelmaking technologies and practice.



HIsmelt's green light for the future Ralph Mills looks at the significance of a revolutionary process that has just won environmental approval in Western Australia. On the coast of Western Australia, 40km south of Perth, the beached remains of the SS Kwinana have rested in Cockburn Sound for over 80 years, her limestone filled hulk forming part of a jetty. In 1922, the local shopkeeper began to stamp postbags "Kwinana Wreck". A community grew, and from the 1950s onwards the town of Kwinana expanded rapidly to form one of the region's principal industrial hubs, with an oil refinery and grain silos. Kwinana, an Aboriginal word meaning "pretty maiden", probably faced a quiet future as an important industrial suburb of Perth. But instead Kwinana is likely to become known as the location of a major leap into the industrial future. For it is here that Rio Tinto is working towards the large scale production of pig iron using its revolutionary HIsmelt® process, after environmental approval was granted late last year by the Western Australian State Government for the construction of a new smelter. HIsmelt® is a development that could eventually spell the end of scores of aging and environment threatening coking and sinter plants throughout the world, along with significant reductions in releases of greenhouse gases and negligible releases of other pollutants. It could also enable the economic smelting of iron ores, the market for which is currently limited by traditional iron and steelmaking technologies and practice.
PAGE 1 OF 4

Review is published by Rio Tinto, 6 St James' Square, London SW1Y 4LD, England Telephone +44 (0)20 7930 2399 Editor: Cherry DeGeer