Fortescue’s Green Metal Project with Metso’s DRI technology successfully produces first hot metal in Australia

• Fortescue's Christmas Creek Green Metal Project in Western Australia has produced its first hot metal using Metso's DRI Smelting Furnace technology.

• The project represents a major step toward commercial-scale green metal production in Australia, adding value to Pilbara iron ore domestically.

• Metso's electric DRI Smelting Furnace enables lower-emission ironmaking by processing iron ore fines previously unsuitable for traditional DRI routes.

• This breakthrough technology supports the development of greener steelmaking by reducing emissions compared to conventional blast furnace methods.

Fortescue’s Christmas Creek Green Metal Project, featuring Metso’s DRI Smelting Furnace technology, has produced its first hot metal in the Pilbara, Western Australia. The project marks an important milestone for Fortescue and Metso in developing a pathway toward producing green metal from Pilbara iron ore using new low-emission smelting technologies.  

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“This is a significant milestone for our Green Metal Project and another step towards producing commercial-scale green metal in Australia. For decades Australia has exported iron ore to the world. The next opportunity is to create more value from that ore by producing green metal here at home,” says Fortescue Metals Chief Executive Officer, Dino Otranto. 

Metso contributed the core smelting design and technology for the project with its electric DRI Smelting Furnace. The technology is being tested for its potential to enable the use of Pilbara iron ore fines in lower-emission ironmaking routes. Installation of Metso’s equipment commenced in September 2025.  

“We congratulate Fortescue on this significant step forward. The production of first hot metal at the Christmas Creek Green Metal Project demonstrates the role of Metso’s DRI Smelting Furnace technology in advancing lower-emission ironmaking. The project will provide important learnings as Fortescue works towards developing a pathway for green iron production at scale using Pilbara ore. We are proud to support Fortescue in this pioneering work,” says Piia Karhu, President, Minerals at Metso. 

Breakthrough technology supporting low-emission ironmaking 

Metso’s DRI Smelting Furnace technology offers a route to producing high-quality iron units suitable for downstream steelmaking with lower emissions than conventional blast furnace routes. The technology has been developed to unlock the utilization of extensive iron ore reserves for green ironmaking that have previously been considered unsuitable for the DRI steelmaking route due to their higher gangue content.