Several mills that process calcined zircon announced closure of their operation which led to an investment casting industry concern over the availability of this commonly used facecoat material. The Investment Casting Institute commissioned the University of Alabama’s Department of Materials Engineering to perform a study to identify functional alternatives to calcined zircon. Several alternative materials were identified including uncalcined zircon, fused silica, alumina, and a fused silica/ uncalcined zircon blend. With the assistance of ICI member companies, a design of experiments was performed using step block molds to evaluate casting response to the identified materials with 17-4 PH steel. Results of this university study will be presented.