US Hertha Metals Achieves 99.95% High-Purity Iron
en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 18, US materials technology company Hertha Metals produced high-purity iron with a purity of 99.95% in its demonstration facility, meeting what the company describes as the raw material specifications of major rare earth permanent magnet manufacturers. The product, manufactured using US domestic raw materials, is intended for the neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnet supply chain, but remains in the product validation and commercialization preparation stage.
Hertha Metals employs a single-step pyrometallurgical process that completes iron ore reduction, melting, and composition control in a continuous production system, with minimal post-processing to control oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and residual metal impurities. Traditional magnet-grade high-purity iron typically requires electrolytic refining and multiple processing steps, whereas the company achieves 3N5 purity—an iron content of 99.95%—using commercial-grade equipment.
The company's existing demonstration facility is located in the US, with a designed production capacity of approximately 1 ton per day, and can use natural gas or hydrogen as the reducing medium to produce steel or high-purity iron. These results validate the equipment's ability to produce magnet-grade purity products, but the company has not yet disclosed the operating duration for sustaining this purity at a daily output of 1 ton, product yield, or manufacturing costs, nor has it announced information on magnet manufacturers completing material certification or signing purchase agreements.
High-purity iron accounts for approximately 70% of the weight of neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets, and its impurity levels affect the magnetic performance and durability of the magnets. The US Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation stipulates that, effective January 1, 2027, restricted neodymium-iron-boron magnet procurement will extend to the complete supply chain from neodymium, iron, and boron mining to finished magnet production. Hertha Metals states that this trial production used US domestic raw materials, providing a technical foundation for future entry into the defense, automotive, and wind power magnet supply chains.
Hertha Metals is preparing its first commercial high-purity iron plant, Chalyx, and has brought in industrial project development organization Mark1 to participate in engineering development. The plant is scheduled to begin construction within 2026; the company previously set its planned production capacity at 9,000 tons per year and expects to create approximately 550 jobs. This update did not disclose the project investment amount, commissioning date, or secured customers, and its commercialization progress remains dependent on engineering construction, continuous operation validation, and downstream customer certification.
