Environmental Sustainability of Calcined Iron Ore Production: A Life Cycle Assessment and Scenario Analysis

Calcined iron ore production is of strategic importance; however, it is associated with considerable environmental burdens due to its high carbon footprint. In this study, the environmental impacts of calcined iron ore production were evaluated using a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The assessment was conducted using the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) V1.13 methodology, the Ecoinvent 3.12 database, and SimaPro 10.5.0.3 software. In addition, four alternative scenarios were developed to investigate potential strategies for reducing environmental impacts. The results identified the calcination stage as the dominant environmental hotspot across most impact categories. Calcination accounted for 98.8% of the total global warming potential, 99.1% of the terrestrial acidification potential, and 99.3% of the fine particulate matter formation potential. Scenario analysis revealed that technological interventions focusing on a single parameter were unable to simultaneously reduce all environmental impacts and, in some cases, introduced additional environmental trade-offs. Scenario 4, which involved the substitution of the kiln fuel with natural gas, achieved substantial reductions in air quality-related impact categories. Nevertheless, due to the predominance of process-related emissions, the reduction in global warming potential was limited to 15.77%. Scenario 2, incorporating photovoltaic-based electrification, reduced dependence on fossil energy sources but resulted in increased ecotoxicity impacts associated with the photovoltaic panel supply chain. Based on these findings, a hybrid strategy combining natural gas utilization in the calcination process with the electrification of open-pit mining and crushing–screening operations is proposed as a promising pathway for improving the environmental performance of calcined iron ore production. Overall, the proposed hybrid system could reduce emissions by 145 kg CO2 eq per tonne of product (19.5%), strengthening the long-term environmental and economic performance of calcined iron ore production.