Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) has been awarded CAD 18.1 million ($13.3 million) from the Canadian Government, which comes as part of the government’s Low Carbon Economy Fund, to support the decarbonization of iron ore processing at the miner’s operations in Labrador West, according to the company’s new release on 27 February.
With this funding, IOC could decrease the volume of heavy fuel oil utilized in the production process of iron ore pellets and concentrate. Additionally, IOC will install an electric boiler to mitigate emissions from heavy fuel oil boilers.
“Rio Tinto IOC has a plan to decarbonize and continue producing some of the lowest carbon-intensity high-grade iron ore products in the world, right here in Canada,” IOC president and chief executive officer Mike McCann said.
IOC is expected to experience a reduction of approximately 2.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the duration of the project’s lifespan. The installation of new equipment is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2024.
IOC has a nameplate annual capacity of 23 million tonnes of high-grade concentrate fines, and up to 12.5 million tonnes can be processed into a range of higher value pellets, Mysteel learned.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.