Helios
Helios transforms low-grade iron ore into green iron with zero carbon emissions, reducing steel’s 8% share of global CO₂ while cutting energy and waste
About Us
Helios is an Israeli innovator in green iron production, tackling one of the world’s most carbon-intensive industries. Our breakthrough technology, the Helios Cycle, replaces carbon and hydrogen with sodium as the reducing agent in ironmaking. This two-step closed-loop process operates at only 250–350 °C, consuming less energy while producing 99%+ pure iron with oxygen as the sole byproduct.
Unlike conventional steelmaking, which depends on scarce high-grade ores and emits vast amounts of CO₂, the Helios Cycle can process abundant low-grade ores and even mining tailings. This reduces both raw material costs and industrial waste, while eliminating direct carbon emissions when powered by renewable electricity.
Our modular, mobile furnaces enable localized production near mining sites, cutting transportation costs and emissions. With lower operating expenses, faster deployment, and strong unit economics, Helios offers steelmakers a practical path toward profitability and decarbonization.
Beyond iron, our technology extends to other critical materials such as nickel, copper, cobalt, and lithium—supporting cleaner, more sustainable resource extraction across industries
Relevant Challenges
Circular Economy
Helios advances the principles of a circular economy by transforming waste into high-value resources and operating through a fully closed-loop process. The Helios Cycle™ produces iron from low-grade ores and mining tailings, materials traditionally discarded as waste. By converting these underutilized resources into high-quality iron, Helios eliminates the need for new mining of high-grade deposits and prevents large volumes of tailings from entering the environment. This directly supports the circular economy principle of keeping materials in use for as long as possible. A defining feature of the Helios Cycle™ is its closed-loop sodium system. Sodium, used instead of coal for iron ore reduction, is continuously regenerated and reused in subsequent cycles. This minimizes resource consumption and ensures that the process generates no significant waste. The only outputs are oxygen, which can be valorized for industrial use. The result is a highly resource-efficient process that aligns with circular economy goals: reducing dependence on virgin raw materials, minimizing waste generation, and maximizing the utility of existing resources. By integrating waste-to-resource conversion and closed-loop chemical recycling, Helios provides the steel industry with a sustainable and scalable pathway to a truly circular materials economy.
Sustainable Manufacturing
Helios is addressing the challenge of sustainable manufacturing through the Helios Cycle™, a novel iron ore reduction process that eliminates coal and achieves zero direct CO₂ emissions. Our technology produces high-quality iron from low-grade ores and mining waste, resources that are currently underutilized and often discarded. By doing so, the Helios Cycle™ both reduces the industry’s dependency on high-grade ores and prevents waste accumulation, unlocking new reserves without the need for environmentally harmful beneficiation or pre-treatment steps. Instead of carbon, the process uses sodium in a closed-loop system. Sodium is continuously recycled, making the process energy-efficient and resource-responsible. Operating at low reduction temperatures (300–400 °C) and consuming only ~4 MWh per ton of iron, the system dramatically lowers energy demand compared to traditional methods. The only byproducts are oxygen—which can be used as a valuable input for other industries—and inert gangue material. The Helios Cycle™ produces Helios Green Iron (HGI™), a metallic iron powder with 99% Fe purity, which can be briquetted and seamlessly integrated into conventional steelmaking technologies. Beyond iron, the process can also extract critical and transition metals, further supporting sustainable material sourcing for next-generation manufacturing and infrastructure.
