UTILISING THE RONS AND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8931, 15 July 1892, Page 10 (Supplement)

UTILISING THE RONS AND.

When Mr. E. M. Smith, the member for New Plymouth, visited Onehunga some three weeks back it was understood that he had made arrangements with the directors of the ironworks for a trial at an early date of his process of smelting the ironsand. Mr. Smith came up from Wellington last week, and during the past few days the blast furnace at Onehunga has been charged with the ironsand in the shape of bricks instead of with ore. A "tapping" took place on Monday, July 11, in the presence of Mr. Smith and a number of other gentlemen interested in the industry, the result being that several tons of iron were obtained from the furnace. The metal was pronounced by experts to be workable iron of first-clas3 quality; far superior, in fact, to that hitherto produced from any of the NewZealand ores. A portion of the molten metal was converted into small castings, among which was a barrow-wheel, and it stood this test in a highly satisfactory manner. Thefurnace was " tapped" a second time on Tuesday, July 12, there being a large gathering of people to witness the operation, which was again attended with most successful results. The " bricks" with which the furnace was charged consist of an admixture of ironsand and clay, and were brought by Mr. Smith from New Flymouth, where they were manufactured fifteen or sixteen years ago. A quantity more, made of similar material*, have just been brought to Onehunga from the Avondale brickworks, and are now being used to feed the furnace. Mr. Smith claims that the yield of iron is equal to 50 per cent, of the weight of the bricks, and he is sanguine of being able to produce iron of a high class at a payable rate. Coke from the Grey coal was used in the trials, and there being at the time a scarcity of limestone at the works, shells were used in its stead. Two truckloads of Kamo limestone have, however, now come to hand, and will be used in future operations. The trials have been watched with great interest by the Onehunga people, to whom the development of' the industry is of much importance, seeing that the West Coast abounds with inexhaustible quantities of " raw material" in the shape of the deposits of ironsand ; and Mr. Smith has come in for hearty congratulations on the success he has achieved.