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Awards/COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT (B)

$282,853,384

Department of Energy·Department of Energy

to VALE USA LLC

energyactiveONGOING · MOD OF 2024 CONTRACT
WORK BEGAN2024-12-18·LATEST ACTION2026-03-31·SOURCEUSASPENDING·SOURCE IDASST_NON_DECD0000101_089
Award description

FOR THE PROJECT, “LOW-EMISSIONS, COLD-AGGLOMERATED IRON ORE BRIQUETTE FOR CLEANER STEEL,” VALE USA LLC (“VALE”) WILL CONSTRUCT A FIRST-OF-A-KIND FACILITY IN THE UNITED STATES (U.S.) TO LAUNCH A VIABLE LOW-EMISSIONS ALTERNATIVE IN THE IRON ORE PROCESS THAT CAN BE REPLICABLE AT BOTH DIRECT REDUCED IRON (DRI) AND BLAST FURNACE (BF) FACILITIES, MEETING THE DEMAND FOR LOW-EMISSIONS ORE-BASED METALLICS. VALE’S COLD-AGGLOMERATION IRON ORE BRIQUETTE (BQT) WILL DELIVER SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN FACILITY GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS COMPARED TO PROCESSES USED TO MAKE TRADITIONAL DRI PELLETS. VALE’S FACILITY WILL ALSO ENABLE A CIRCULAR APPROACH WHEREBY IRON ORE FINES AND METALLIC FINES GENERATED ON-SITE CAN BE REINCORPORATED INTO THE IRON ORE BRIQUETTE MANUFACTURING PROCESS, DRIVING ADDITIONAL OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES AND REDUCED EMISSIONS THROUGH AVOIDANCE OF THE SALE AND TRANSPORT OF FINES OFFSITE. VALE PLANS TO LICENSE THE COLD-AGGLOMERATION PROCESS FOR USE WITHIN THE U.S. METALLICS AND STEEL INDUSTRY TO PROPEL REPLICATION. THE PROJECT PLANS TO PROVIDE TANGIBLE BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY INCLUDING, FOR EXAMPLE, GENERATING AN ESTIMATED 150 NEW, SKILLED, WELL-PAYING JOBS AND ENGAGING AND CONTRACTING UNION WORKFORCE WHEREVER FEASIBLE. VALE’S COMMUNITY BENEFITS COMMITMENTS WILL BE SHAPED TO DRIVE SUSTAINABLE LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND WILL INCLUDE FIRM COMMITMENTS TO INVEST IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AT THE FACILITY. THE PROJECT WILL PAY PREVAILING WAGES, ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED GROUPS, PROVIDE INTERNSHIP OR APPRENTICESHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR POTENTIAL LOCAL HIRES, AND PURSUE NEGOTIATED WORKFORCE AGREEMENTS, COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS, AND PARTNERSHIPS. THE PROJECT WILL INVEST IN SUPPORT TO ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL WORKERS.

Verbatim from USAspending.gov. Capitalization, abbreviations, and codes are unchanged.

The Buildout's read

What the model surfaced from this award

Confidence: high
In plain English

DOE funds VALE's first U.S. facility producing low-emissions iron ore briquettes for cleaner steel manufacturing, begun December 2024.

Sub-sectors
industrial-decarbonizationsteel-emissions-reductionclean-metallics
Why this matters

Reduces steel sector emissions—a major industrial carbon source—and positions U.S. metallics industry to compete on climate-friendly production standards.

Supply-chain signal

Enables domestic iron ore processing innovation; supports circular economy by reincorporating fines on-site, reducing transport and offsite sales dependency.

U.S.–China competition angle

China dominates global steel production; this technology positions U.S. steelmakers to meet decarbonization standards and export low-emissions metallics competitively.

Generated by award_classification v2.1.0 via claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 on 2026-05-19. Cost: $0.003644.

Period of performance
Start
2024-12-18
End
2031-01-31
Status
activein 1676 days
Sources

The Buildout does not edit federal records. Any inaccuracy reflects the upstream source; it will update here when corrected there.

$282.9M Department of Energy — The Buildout — The Buildout