Lal Lal - Iron Mine and Blast Furnace

Victoria's only attempt at mining and smelting iron ore took place at Lal Lal in the latter stages of the nineteenth century. In the mid 1870s, the Lal Lal Iron Company installed mining machinery, erected a large blast furnace and constructed a tramway to convey ore from the mine. For a brief time in the early 1880s, the Lal Lal Company had over 100 men engaged in mining and smelting the iron ore, gathering limestone (flux) and firewood, and manufacturing charcoal. The company also operated a foundry at Ballarat. The Lal Lal Iron Works had ceased operations by the end of the 1880s.

The Lal Lal Iron Mine and Smelting Works is the site of the State's only attempt to smelt iron ore with a blast furnace. The significance of the site is enhanced by the substantial remnants of the blast furnace being the only one of its type surviving in the southern hemisphere.

The site has the remains of an historic iron mine which includes a blast furnace.

There is a free campground, 400m heritage walk with a series of informative signs and viewing platform.

The blast furnace is located near the intersection of Ironmine Road and Thynes Road. The road is a bit rutted but OK for 2WD vehicles and unsuitable for towing vehicles

Map of Area

Review:

At the Blast Furnace Picnic Area there is a car park, toilets, two unshaded tables and wood BBQs.

From the carpark there is a short stony track to Iron Mine No.3 which has the remains of a mining area and the following information sign.

You are Standing in an Old Iron Mine

Here were thousands of tons of red iron ore, in easy reach of the industries of Ballarat, ready to be made into pig iron.

Iron that was wanted for a variety of engineering works - such as the "Phoenix" steam trains, gold mining machinery, and fancy cast iron balconies.

But the labour intensive production costs eventually outstripped the iron's selling price, making the operation unprofitable.

So in 1884 the mine closed, and the workers left to seek other work in other places ... leaving the mines, tramways, terraces and furnace as a reminder of their presence.

There is a 250m walk to a viewing platform looking over the blast furnace. The walk continues as the 'Heritage Walk' which is a 400m circuit.

The information signs along the trail include:

Tramway to Lal Lal

Cooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Along this narrow gauge tramway, the carts full of pig-iron were hauled up to the "passing loop". And when the line was clear they would start their downhill race to the Ballarat railway line at Lal Lal.

They reached up to 60 miles an hour while the brakeman braked and held on for the ride!

And on return, horses pulled the carts uphill, loaded with limestone & coke to fuel the furnace...

.... that made the iron that filled the carts that rolled down hill with screeching brakes and white, tight knuckles.

The Lal Lal Iron Company

The Blacksmith's Life

In front of you is the hearth of the long gone blacksmith's shop.

The building was made of timber poles, with a corrugated iron roof ... held down with rocks. And in this corner of the building was the forge with bellows, used to repair machinery, horseshoes, picks and other tools.

But what was the blacksmith's life like? Like all the other workers, it was a life of heat, noise and long days. Meals of damper & boiled mutton, and pint pot cups of billy tea.

Heat, Smoke and Molten Metal

Into the top of the furnace went measured amounts of iron ore, coke and limestone.

At the bottom was a fire that reached temperatures up to 1850 degrees C, helped by powerful blasts of piped air.

As the iron ore gradually topped down through the furnace and melted, it separated into molten iron and slag ... and was removed through vents at the bottom.

Its all quiet here now but think back to a time when the furnace roared, with smoke and cinders. The steam engine throbbed and the skips (or carts) clattered by. And throughout it all was the acrid smell of molten metal.

The Hard Slog to get Ahead

Along this tramway, men pushed skips of iron ore from the nearby mine to the blast furnace.

Up to 160 men worked and lived here during the 6 years of commercial operation ... from 1878 to 1884.

For the first few years, iron production was fairly stop-and-start, but when in full swing the furnace was a day of hard slog - but with reasonable pay for the times ... about 3 pounds ($6) a week.

This was a place of labouring men, who lived in small timber huts. And for the few with families, across the river at Bungal, was a school.

There is a short 5 minute detour from the 'Heritage Walk' to the Bungal Dam Viewing area which has an information shelter, a view of the dam spillway and restricted views of the reservoir.

The heritage trail continues back to the picnic area from here.