Post #1 of the ice investments is facinating, especially in a region where the medium water and the setting agent, cold are abundant.
The first pic of an ice pattern from an iron mold is excellent. It appears that the process/medium of the investment material needs some attention to detail but that solved, should lead to an inexpensive process of producing accurate investment castings, especially if the production of molds and and the iron casting processes could be separated seasonally.
It appears as though the ice pattern degrades as heat generated by the setting of the refractory plaster causes surface melting before the plaster completely solidifies. I'd think that's a solvable problem with promise for an emerging industry for a people fighting hard to recover from an about-face of ideology, in a region rich in fuel and ore deposits.
Even if that cannot be solved, clearly they are producing very near net size with inexpensive low tech at the foundry, a laudable goal. Just make the ice a little fatter.
The contrast of melting ice vs the wholesale burning of polystyrene would be a good thing for global air quality as well. The former fully reclaimed and the later, an unrenewable resource converted into harmful atmospheric gasses with zero reclamation possible.
Bob