Iron

The lifeblood of any productive town. Used for creating essential tools, machinery, and weapons and protection, this is arguably the most valuable resource in the game. In the early stages of the game iron was available from the ground in pure form, but as the game was enhanced this was changed to more accurately reflect the process involved.

Smelting

Either a smelting furnace or a primitive smelting furnace will work for smelting iron from iron ore, although a smelting furnace is more efficient. A primitive smelting furnace should only be used in communities that have no access to a it's counterpart yet. For instance, this could be their first batch of iron. However, it makes more sense economically to build a smelting furnace as soon as possible, as the improvements in quality are worthwhile.