Hertha Metals, a clean steel production startup, says it has successfully demonstrated its single-step process for turning low-grade iron ore into molten steel or high-purity iron. The company built a pilot plant in Texas and it’s been churning out one ton of steel per day for months now. Next year, the company plans to build a new facility capable of 9,000 tons per year and soon after, it anticipates scaling to 500,000 tons per year, on par with what commercial U.S. steelmaking micro mills are producing today.