The Story of Wundowie Carbon

OUR ORIGIN

In fact, in parts of the world where iron ore is abundant but no large scale coal resources are available, iron and steel are produced using only charcoal, a form of biocarbon.

Until 1981, the town of Wundowie was one such place. Located in Western Australia’s wheat belt, charcoal was made from off-cut timber sourced from the local saw mill and combined with iron ore in a blast furnace to produce a pig iron product commonly known as ‘charcoal iron’.

Inspired by the ingenuity shown in the town of Wundowie in years gone by, we look to apply modern materials science and circular economy principles to create a new generation of green carbon products and support the transition to Green Metals.

The use of biogenic carbon (biocarbon) as a reducing agent in the production of iron, copper, zinc and many other modern materials is nothing new.

THE ORIGINAL WUNDOWIE CHARCOAL IRON AND WOOD DISTILLATION PLANT - 1952

Management Team

  • Haydn Smith

    MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO

    Founder of Wundowie Carbon following a 25 year career in global commodity markets, including 20 years at Macquarie Bank as global head of mining finance. Co-founder of Tribeca Natural Resources Credit and co-founder of an online retail business with ASX exit.

  • Alister King

    CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER

    Chemical Engineer previously Technical Superintendent of Continuous Improvement at Infrabuild Steel, including carriage of the decarbonisation strategy and execution where biocarbon was integrated into steelmaking operations for highest value-in-use.

Advisors

  • Dr. Joe Herbertson

    ADVISOR

    Former GM of BHP Steel Research Laboratories. Currently a panel member for Responsible Steel Assurance and Senior Sustainability Advisor to high temperature processors. Co-author of numerous academic papers focussing on metallurgical emissions reduction.

  • A/Prof. Pramod Koshy

    R&D PROJECT MANAGER

    Associate Professor of the Materials Science and Engineering school at UNSW. Currently the academic lead for Wundowie’s Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE) grant, developing bespoke binder technology which is optimised for metallurgical operations.