O projeto minero-siderúrgico da Portugal Iron & Coal Company na Marinha Grande, anos 1860

Abstract

At the turn of the 150th anniversary from the start of functioning of the fi rst blast furnace built in Portugal, this text reviews some of the steps taken by the Portugal Iron & Coal Company, created to acquire, retain and explore 10 iron and coal mines located in the district of Leiria. Accredited in Lisbon by the end of 1863, the Company was sett led in Pedreanes, at the vicinity of Marinha Grande, where it built a blast furnace fed with local iron ore reduced by charcoal, together with natural coal brought from its mines of Marrazes and Batalha. The Company went bankrupt in March 1866, shortly after the inauguration of the blast furnace. However, despite its early failure this was the fi rst concrete att empt to install the modern iron industry in Portugal, designed to melt national ores.