Iron : Iron Smelting
(See also Making a Tool and Making a Spearhead)
Iron Smelting at Jefisi, UpperWest region of Ghana, 7th April 1971
7.05am: Guinea corn stalks lit in shaft. Bowl-shaped tuyere (air hole) ready to be put in place
7.10am: Tuyere put in place near base of shaft. Note remains of chicken sacrificed on shaft
7.11am: One of several basketfuls of charcoal emptied into furnace
7.12am: Small amount of iron ore put on top of charcoal
7.20am: Hole for slag (waste material) removal made below tuyere
Calabash containing iron ore ready for putting infurnace
Furnace is kept constantly topped up with charcoal and iron ore
Freshly cut leaves protecting the leather of the bellows from the heat of the furnace
9.07am: Slag is let out from the base of the furnace for the first time
Later: free-flowing slag is quenched.
4.20pm: base of the furnace with the tuyere is prized away to get at the iron. Heat is fierce
4.25pm: semi solid iron lump (bloom) is removed, with slag from the back of the furnace
.30pm: Iron bloom cooling
At Garu, Upper East Region , Ghana . Two new blooms of iron on right, produced in 1973, compared to two old blooms on left
At Chiana, Upper West Region, iron bloom is broken up on a stone anvil, using a large stone hammer, 1972
At Chiana: Sufficient iron to make one hoe-blade
