Figure 1 is an outside longitudinal view of the furnace, with the plates ... the fire being near to the metal, and the heat of the fire being made to act upon and pass down through the whole ...

So far they’ve made magnesium metal in the laboratory using electric heaters. If all goes well, Valparaiso plans to be making the metal in the solar furnace by the end of next year.

It is one of the earliest examples of a blast furnace, where products are poured into the top while a blast of air from below helps turn them into a molten metal. It was one of the first ...