TARANAKI IRONSAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 229, 24 October 1903, Page 2

TARANAKI IRONSAND.

A SUCCESSFUL DEMONSTRATION. (Auckland Star Correspondent.) Some months ago I drew attention to what appaared to me to be a very simple, cheap and effective method«of " bricking " ironsand so as to overcome the difficulty of smelting the sand in tho natural state. The process was invented by Mr Rouse, who by the aid of a vary simple and inexpensive treatment, manage i to produce out of the [ sut.d what might havo p«sed muster as, good hard bricks. I was rather impressed with the " drawing-room" experiments I saw Mr Rouse make at the tim«, but urged him to give a demonstration on something like a commercial scale, This he was unable to do, being at a loss for ironsacd, but, happily his invention attracted the attention of an old colonifct in the person of Mr Ooho, who for years resided in the Auckland district, and know a tfood deal about the efforts that had been made to take advantage of the presence of an illimitable supply of the first necessary to tho produotion of iron and steel on the Tarauaki coast. He, having examined the process, thought there was something in it, and managed to get several toDS of tho sand home for experimental purposes, and urged Mr Rouse to persevere. Of course the inventor came several "croppers " before be perfected his process. At first he made his bricks out of the sand au nalurel, and though they stood the test of the crush in the furnace he could not obtain *, perfect reduction. Thon an idea struck him. Why not clear tbe sand of those elements unnecessary ,!jto tbe production of iron? By doing so he recognised that ho would effect a great economy in the fuel, etc, nec9S3ary for smelting, and would also increasa the iron output of his furnaces. He could, of course, separate the iron from its base associates by means of an ordinary magnet for experimental purposes, so he contrived a machine to automatically clean the sand by means of powerful electro magnets and an air blest. His plan proved eminently successful, and cereful calculation showed that he could clean and brick the sand ready for smelting at a cost of not more than a 'hilling per ton, and he fouud also that he could make sure of a perfect redacion from the concentrated sand. 80 a few days ago he decided to give a demonstration at Martin's Foundry, near Waterloo Station, and invited thereto several practical ironfounders, a. couple of scientists who have been studying the problem of the commercial 'itilisation of the magnetic ironsands of Canada—they have miles upon miles of the same class of sand as that at faranaki on the St Liwrence River—a few sceptical journalists,, and the official representatives of New Zealand and Canada. Unfortunately Mr Reeves could not attend, and the Canadian '■opresentative failed to materialize also. The demonstration did not include the -.learing and bricking of the sand, but was confined to testing the stability of the bricks under heat in a boiler fire, and the reduction of a couple of hundredweight of concentrated bricks from Taranaki sand in tho foundry furnace. There was no deception. Ths bricks were loaded into the furnace in our presence, and throughout the time occupied in smelting them the furnace was under surveillance. When the time came for the molten contents to be drawn we stood round and saw the metal run out into buckets and trans farred thence to ordinary " pig" moulds, saw the resultant " pigs " re maved, cooled one down with water and l*t febe others take their own time. The water-cooled pig was broken first and showed aa clean a bit of iron as one could wish to see. The experts present voted it " a perfect reduction," and were evidently much impressed with the result. Then we broke the remaining " pigs," and one and all were perfectly satisfactory, Mr Rouse, who had been subjected to a stiff crossexamination by the gentlemen interested in Canadian ironsand, satisfied the commercial men that he oould brisk and clean at a shilling a ton, and the soientific representatives could discover no flaw in his claims to have discovered a process of great value. As for the iron produced, it was all that could be desired, and would, one expert assured me, "make splendid steel." The Canadians have supplied Mr Rouse with several tons of their own sand for further experiments and demonstrations, and later I understand Mr Rouie will give a complete demonstration of his process—cleaning, bricking, and smelting, At present I his p'ant is only of a makeshift character.