[2] Chambers attended the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876, which proved unsuccessful; America had plentiful iron-ore resources that were cheap to smelt and so no interest was shown.
Before leaving the US, Chambers heard about a smelting process invented by Joel Wilson of Dover, New Jersey, which proved promising.
His successor was an ironmaster from the Clyde region of Scotland, James McAndrew,[2] who tried his best to carry on against mounting problems with the de-oxidation part of the process.
This was a much-reduced profit margin and eventually the shareholders were left with debts of £20,000 and the works were broken up and shipped to China.
[2] Chambers continued in various other iron-related companies and other businesses around the Auckland region, including goldmining, eventually taking a position as manager of T. and S. Morrin & Son.