BlueScope, BHP and Rio Tinto select Kwinana for 40,000 tpa green iron pilot plant

Steelmaker BlueScope and iron ore miners, BHP and Rio Tinto have selected Kwinana Industrial Area, south of Perth, to host an electric smelting furnace pilot plant, which aims to test and optimise lower-carbon emissions molten iron from Pilbara iron ore using direct reduced iron (DRI)-ESF technology.  Rio said the trio assessed a number of locations…

K-Tig changes direction, buys metal powder technology

Rapid welding technology developer K-Tig is changing its direction, acquiring 100 percent of US-based Metal Powder Works, which has developed the DirectPowder Process which converts premium bar stock into high-quality powder. K-Tig, which is in voluntary administration, said the process achieved yields of 95 percent compared to 20-30 percent from traditional powder production methods, resulting…

More coal and gas, less renewables: what a nuclear power plan for Australia would really mean

By John Quiggin, The University of Queensland Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan for nuclear power in Australia has provoked a great deal of discussion and analysis – most of it critical. Experts point out the Coalition’s long-awaited modelling involves both highly optimistic costings and a massively lower demand for electricity than expected in official projections. In…