Hertha Metals breaks ground on $100M US plant for magnet-grade iron

The plant will run on domestic iron ore, primarily from Minnesota's Iron Range, and Texas natural gas.

Hertha Metals has broken ground on Hertha Chalyx, its first commercial plant in Conroe, Texas, designed to produce about 10,000 metric tons a year of steel-grade and magnet-grade high-purity iron combined.

Built next to Hertha’s Pi100 pilot plant, Chalyx forms the first modern iron and steel innovation complex in the US, where the company said it will develop and scale its process for making primary iron and steel.

The plant will run on domestic iron ore, primarily from Minnesota’s Iron Range, and Texas natural gas, the company said.

The roughly $100 million plant is funded by Hertha’s $133.65 million Series A, which included a $65 million equity investment from the US government.

“This investment today in Hertha Metals shows what economic defense looks like in practice: moving early against a strategic choke point, crowding in private capital, safeguarding our taxpayer resources through a disciplined equity structure and building domestic capacity before supply chain disruption becomes a crisis,” Jennifer Jett, Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of War, Economic Defense Unit said in a statement.

The Houston- based startup is aiming to fill a critical gap in the US rare earth magnet supply chain as new domestic sourcing requirements approach and policymakers seek to reduce reliance on China for strategic materials.

The company is developing what it calls FLEXHERS, short for flexible fuel hydrogen electric reduction smelting, a process that combines electric arc furnace technology with natural gas or hydrogen to produce iron and steel.

Hertha Metals has broken ground on Hertha Chalyx, its first commercial plant in Conroe, Texas, designed to produce about 10,000 metric tons a year of steel-grade and magnet-grade high-purity iron combined.

Built next to Hertha’s Pi100 pilot plant, Chalyx forms the first modern iron and steel innovation complex in the US, where the company said it will develop and scale its process for making primary iron and steel.

The plant will run on domestic iron ore, primarily from Minnesota’s Iron Range, and Texas natural gas, the company said.

The roughly $100 million plant is funded by Hertha’s $133.65 million Series A, which included a $65 million equity investment from the US government.

“This investment today in Hertha Metals shows what economic defense looks like in practice: moving early against a strategic choke point, crowding in private capital, safeguarding our taxpayer resources through a disciplined equity structure and building domestic capacity before supply chain disruption becomes a crisis,” Jennifer Jett, Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of War, Economic Defense Unit said in a statement.