US iron ore supplier MagIron completed pilot plant testing for its Plant 4 restart project in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, partnering with the University of Minnesota, Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI).

The tests validated MagIron's proprietary processing flow, successfully producing both direct reduction (DR) grade and blast furnace (BF) grade iron ore concentrates. The BF-grade recovery rate was almost double the plant's prior performance.

This achievement confirms the technical reliability of the process and strengthens MagIron's confidence in supplying high-grade feedstock, especially DR-grade concentrate, to the growing electric arc furnace (EAF) steel sector. The successful pilot represents an important milestone toward the full resumption of operations at the Plant 4 facility.