page_title: Lal Lal Iron Mine and Smelting Works
section_title: Lal Lal Iron Co. and first period of operation (1873-1875)
hierarchical_section_title: Lal Lal Iron Mine and Smelting Works / History of operations / Lal Lal Iron Co. and first period of operation (1873-1875)
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a newspaper illustration from The Illustrated Adelaide News (SA 1875 - 1880) Wed 1 Jan 1879 Page 10. It shows the first iron poured in October 1878 from the refurbished blast furnace at Lal Lal, Victoria, Australia. It could be the official opening by the Premier of Victoria.
context_page_description: Lal Lal Iron Mine and Smelting Works were located close to the western branch of the Moorabool River, near the town of Lal Lal, Victoria, Australia, which lies on the Geelong-Ballarat railway line about 19 km from Ballarat. From 1875 to 1884, pig iron was made there in a blast furnace using iron ore mined at the site, locally produced charcoal, and limestone from a nearby deposit. The works ultimately proved to be uneconomic. It remains the only attempt to establish an iron smelting industry in Victoria.
  The ruin of the blast furnace on the site is one of only three extant 19th-century blast furnace structures in Australia—the other ones being in northern Tasmania and southern New South Wales—and it is the only one of its type in the southern hemisphere. The site is on the Victorian Heritage Register and the Register of the National Estate.
context_section_description: In November 1873 a meeting of potential shareholders took place, at which was presented a report of a trial smelting of Lal Lal ore at the Union Foundry in Ballarat. The capital was fixed at £48,000 as 24,000 £2 shares. 12,000 for the promoters and 12,000 for sale to the public (offered at a premium of 2s 6d). Mr Peter Alroe was elected chairman and directors were elected.
  Between February and July 1874, a tramway line was surveyed to run from the Lignite Siding at Lal Lal to the Iron Mine on the Western Moorabool River. Work on the furnace began some time before July 1874. Joseph Rowley, who had previously been at the Tamar Hematite Iron Co., was appointed blast furnace manager during the second half of 1875, and had some alterations made to the furnace before production commenced. The first iron was tapped on the evening of Tuesday 19 October 1875.
  Lack of money—not all the shares on offer were taken up by the public—prevented the construction of the tramway and the company resorted to using bullock teams over the poor roads to and from the mine site. The roads were so poor that, until the construction of the tramway could be completed, the iron-making operations at Lal Lal would be forced to close down for eight or nine months every winter. Winter also prevented charcoal burning and storage, presumably due to wet weather.
  The company had produced 127 tonnes of pig iron by January 1876 and constructed 805 metres of cart-road up the steep incline on the lease. The machinery then broke down completely, causing the company to immediately cease production. It was also determined that the steam engine was under-powered.
  
  In October 1875 the company took steps to voluntarily wind up the original company and to dispose of the property and lease, with a view to a re-organisation to increase the capital.
caption: Casting of pig iron from the first blast furnace at Lal Lal in October 1878. (From 'The Illustrated Adelaide News, Wed 1 Jan. 1879, p10)[20] Due to the male and female guests shown in formal dress, this engraving almost certainly shows the official visit by the Premier of Victoria on 26 October 1878.[21]
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