Production of sponge iron

Experimental work in the production of sponge iron, conducted by the Department of the Interior at the Seattle, Wash., experiment station of the Bureau of Mines, has advanced to the point where it is believed that industrial applications of the process can be safely considered for the production of sponge iron as a metallurgical reagent for the precipitation of copper, lead, and numerous other metals from solution. In those regions remote from larger iron and steel making centers and where electric energy can be had at a comparatively cheap rate, sponge iron can also be converted into iron and steel products by melting in the electric furnace.