Albemarle Iron Works (1771–1772): Why did this operation fail?

In December of 1770 the Albemarle Iron Works, Albemarle County, Virginia, USA was formed to build a cold blast furnace for producing cast iron. This furnace was put into operation in September of 1771 but was closed permanently in June of 1772; no usable iron was ever produced. The reason for this failure is not clear, but it has been suggested that the cause was the use titaniferous iron ore. The presence of high Ti would result in a very high viscosity slag, which in turn would not allow for the separation of the iron from the slag and, thereby, slow down the operation of the furnace. Slag, recently taken from the site, has been analyzed by both PIXE and SEM, and the results confirm the high Ti content. Another indication that the furnace was having difficulties was that the slag was not typical glassy slag. Furthermore the iron prills entrapped in the slag showed a high phosphorus content which would result in an iron too brittle for practical use.