BHP (NYSE:BHP) said Thursday it signed an agreement with engineering firm Hatch to design an electric smelting furnace pilot plant in Australia using hydrogen to replace the coking coal it mines in Queensland to process iron ore produced in the Pilbara region.
The pilot facility would test and optimize production of iron for the electric smelting furnace, a new type of furnace being developed by several steel producers and technology companies targeting low carbon emission intensity steel.
BHP (BHP) said estimates show reductions of more than 80% in CO2 emission intensity could be achieved processing Pilbara iron ores through a DRI-ESF pathway, compared with the current industry average for conventional blast furnace steel.
BHP's (BHP) "future looks good but the stock is not yet a buy," The Methodical Investor writes in an analysis posted recently on Seeking Alpha.