He wrote:[3] It is remarkable that the great deposit of iron-ore at Parapara, so well known for many years, should have remained practically untouched up to the present time.

He raised £NZ80,000 in capital, founded the Onakaka[a] Iron and Steel Company, relocated his 16.8 m-high (55 ft) blast furnace from Taranaki, and started building the Onekaka Ironworks.

[9] However, the wharf piles were untreated locally felled timber (Nothofagus solandri[10]) and within two or three years, had deteriorated significantly due to an infestation by shipworms.

[1][11] The Onekaka Ironworks struggled financially during the Great Depression and the company was put into liquidation in May 1935.

[12] During World War II, the ironworks were reconditioned in case New Zealand was cut off from iron imports, and this included reinstatement of the wharf.

At the time, the wharf had deteriorated, with a section at the low tide line missing due to differential wave forces.