China begins mining iron from tailings, low-grade ore that can meet its demand for decades

China has launched a world-first industrial-scale facility to extract iron from previously discarded mine tailings and ultra-low-grade ore, turning waste into a valuable resource that can reduce its dependency on overseas supply. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) last Tuesday, a production line capable of processing 5.56 million tonnes of refractory iron ore and tailings per year