Story: Iron and steel

Blast furnace, Taranaki

Blast furnace, Taranaki

In 1873 Edward Metcalf Smith formed the New Zealand Titanic Steel and Iron Company to build this blast furnace near New Plymouth. Unfortunately it did not work, and was later dismantled and sold overseas. Subsequent investigation showed that conventional blast-furnace smelting did not work with Taranaki ironsands.

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Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-017038; F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Fleur Templeton, 'Iron and steel - Attempts to extract iron', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/5881/blast-furnace-taranaki (accessed 2 May 2024)

Story by Fleur Templeton, published 12 Jun 2006