There was an increase in pig iron prices in the early 1870s, which led to the formation of a number of colonial-era iron-making ventures in Australia.
However, the high prices did not last long, as global iron-making capacity increased, and pig-iron was once again imported cheaply as ballast in sailing ships returning from England to Australia.
After 1884, there was no commercial iron smelting in Australia, until William Sandford built a modern blast furnace at Lithgow in 1907.
Trial smelting took place in foundries, typically using existing cupola furnaces usually used to melt iron to manufacture castings.
Cold-blast technology was used successfully in some colonial-era blast furnaces—notably the two furnaces at Lal Lal—but it could not be made to work reliably in others.
(near modern-day Beaconsfield) Tasmania Any remnants of the furnace were buried under gold mining tailings in 1980s.