CoTec Holdings Corp. investee MagIron LLC has returned positive results from its first independent full pot-grate pellet test program, confirming that its Minnesota iron resources can produce high-quality Direct Reduction grade pellets for modern furnaces.

The test work used iron concentrate generated during MagIron’s 2025 pilot plant program and was conducted under company direction by independent experts at the Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota. The resulting fired pellets demonstrated the high strength and durability required for high-performance Direct Reduction furnace operation, alongside favorable metallurgical performance under direct reduction conditions.

CoTec holds an approximately 17% fully diluted equity interest in MagIron, which acquired the restart-ready Reynolds Pellet Plant near Reynolds, Indiana, in December 2025 following approximately $440 million of prior capital investment.

The latest metallurgical evaluation follows a concept and economic study completed earlier in 2026 that evaluated granulated pig iron production as MagIron’s primary development strategy. While pig iron remains the core focus for commercial operations, the latest pot-grate testing demonstrates that the project retains the technical capability to produce Direct Reduction grade pellets in parallel.

“These excellent results provide further validation of the quality and versatility of MagIron's concentrate feed. Together with the recently completed studies by Behre Dolbear and Primetals, they demonstrate MagIron's potential to address three critical challenges facing the U.S. steel industry: limited domestic availability of DR-grade pellets, complete reliance on imported merchant pig iron and rising contaminant levels in scrap feedstock.”

— Julian Treger, CoTec CEO

MagIron is continuing to optimize its process flowsheet by evaluating a coarser grind and reduced reagent consumption to enhance project economics while maintaining concentrate quality. The company is advancing plans to restart its iron ore concentrator in Minnesota and pellet plant infrastructure in Indiana.

Commenting on the dual-product optionality, Julian Treger, CoTec CEO, stated: “MagIron's iron resource is of sufficient scale and mineralogy to support production of both DR-grade pellets and pig iron. While MagIron is currently advancing pig iron as our primary development strategy, these results further demonstrate that MagIron retains the ability to produce a high-quality DR-grade pellet product should a compelling commercial opportunity emerge.”

MagIron continues to progress its engineering and technical workstreams as it moves toward operational restarts across its Midwestern assets.

Read the full announcement: CoTec Holdings Corp. Investment Magiron Demonstrates Excellent Reduction Pellet Quality in Latest Test Program