TARANAKI IRONSAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 October 1917, Page 7

TARANAKI IRONSAND.

OPERATIONS RESUMED. At 2.30 p.m. last the JT.Z. Iron Ore Smelting and Manufacturing Company's works again got under way. The small experimental furnace was charged with' some l.i cwt. of scrap metal from previous melting:; and a preliminary tap was made at 3 o'clock, when all the metal and waste came away freely. From then onward taps of approximately one ton of metal each were made every four hours, till about 10 o'clock on Tuesday morning, when water began to leak round the tuyies, and to find its way into the furnace, causing Bueh a dense volume of steam that the furnace was clouded from sight and further operations became impossible. The trouble was in no way serious and the blowing down and cleaning out were so rapidly done that a start was made again last night.

The flowing of the iron was very spectacular, as was that of the slag, in a very fluid state, which was tapped.every two hours and allowed to run down a channel some 20 feet in length from the furnace. The iroii; which hitherto had been white to a mottled iron, developed into a first-class grey iron. The whole of Monday's operation.* were entirely satisfactory, each and every tap of both metal and slag coming away easily and cleanly.

To-day the furnace will r. L > going full blast, and taps of 90 cwt. will be made at intervals of six hours. Shareholders of the company who may be in town for the general looting are invited to pay a visit to the works.

Yesterday the company shipped its first fo'.i" tons of pig iron to a Dunedin firm. There is an unsatisfied demand for pig iron, the imported article of which is commanding up to £22 10s per ton.