LONDON — International Iron Beneficiation Group Ltd. (IIBG), a subsidiary of Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal, has launched feasibility studies for iron ore pelletizing plants in North America, the steelmaker said March 19.

IIBG, which is 51-percent owned by Severstal, is considering locations in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Kentucky, Minnesota and Indiana, it said.

The plant would produce direct-reduced iron (DRI) through a process developed by Iron Mineral Beneficiation Services Pty Ltd., Severstal’s South African partner, which converts superfine iron ore to high-quality iron units.

Moscow-based IIBG said that it would decide which locations to develop depending on the results of the study and the successful launch of the first commercial plant using the new technology in Phalaborwa, South Africa.

"The company is conducting the necessary due diligence to determine the feasibility and priority of potential sites," IIBG chief executive officer Dmitry Solomin said. "No final commitments can be made at this very early stage of the business development process."

The size of Severstal’s investment in the project and the number of plants it would consider developing would depend on the results of the prefeasibility study, it said.

The Russian steelmaker launched a feasibility study for the construction of a $1-billion iron ore processing plant in Sept-Iles, Quebec, in 2011 (amm.com, April 6).

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Steel First.