China Launches Industrial-Scale Iron Extraction from Mine Tailings to Reduce Import Dependency
China has initiated a groundbreaking industrial-scale facility designed to extract iron from previously discarded mine tailings and low-grade ore. This development, confirmed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), involves a production line capable of processing 5.56 million tonnes of refractory iron ore and tailings annually, which has successfully passed official checks and is now operational. China, the world's largest iron ore consumer, currently imports over 80% of its supply, primarily from Australia and Brazil. Despite possessing the fourth-largest iron ore reserves globally, much of it is low-grade and difficult to process using conventional methods. This new technology aims to make these previously unviable ores economically extractable, transforming waste into a valuable resource and significantly bolstering China's domestic iron supply capabilities. 
