BHP Group (ASX:BHP) said it progressed its 2030 goal to support the development of steel production technologies capable of a 30% lower greenhouse gas emissions intensity, compared with conventional blast furnace steelmaking, according to a Tuesday statement.

It also plans to lay the foundations for near-zero emissions steelmaking in the long term.

Reducing the carbon dioxide intensity of the blast furnace is a core pillar of many of the mining giant's customers' decarbonization pathways, per the statement.

Two capture technology pilots have completed test phases, with one being an amine-based carbon dioxide technology provided by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in partnership with BHP and Mitsubishi Development.

This technology was tested at the ArcelorMittal Ghent operations for 4,500 hours, achieving over 90% carbon dioxide capture ratio and 99.9% dry carbon dioxide purity in the separated stream. This showed the potential to secure a 24% carbon emissions reduction at the Ghent integrated blast furnace site. The project partners began testing post-combustion flue gas from the steel rolling mill reheat furnace.

The second pilot involves vacuum pressure swing absorption technology, tested at the HBIS Tanggang site for 2,000 hours, achieving over 90% carbon dioxide capture ratio and over 95% carbon dioxide purity in the separated stream.

Its shares rose 2% in recent trading on Tuesday.