At the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, the country's need for metal was exacerbated by the outbreak of wars for access to the Black and Baltic Seas. Olonets and Kashiro-Tula plants in the central and northwestern parts of Russia had already depleted forest and ore bases and did not meet the growing demand for weapons-grade metal, and could not produce high-quality metal due to the presence of harmful impurities in the ores, primarily sulfur and phosphorus. These same prerequisites contributed to the shift of priority from the smelting of non-ferrous and noble metals towards iron. After the defeat of the Russian troops at Narva on November 19, 1700, the Swedes were left with all the Russian artillery, which exacerbated the need for accelerated production of guns. To make up for these losses, Peter I gave the order to melt the church bells into cannons and mortars. As a result, 300 cannons were cast in one year.
In 1696, at the initiative of the head of the Siberian order, the Duma clerk A.A. Vinius, the ore found in the Verkhotursky district was sent for examination to the Moscow gunsmiths and the Tula blacksmith N. D. Antufiev (Demidov). The samples were highly appraised, which played a decisive role in government decision-making. On May 10 and June 15, 1697, decrees of Peter I were issued on the construction of the first Ural blast furnace plants. The construction was supervised by the Siberian Order headed by A. A. Vinius. The first craftsmen arrived in the Urals to build the Nevyansk and Kamensk factories in the spring of 1700. By 1717, out of 516 workers at the Nevyansk plant, 118 people came from central Russia, including 52 from Tula, and 66 people from Moscow and the Moscow region. The launch of the first two plants in 1701 showed good prospects for Ural metallurgy. In 1702, the Uktussky, Verkhne- and Nizhne-Alapaevsky plants were launched, supplying metal, including for the construction of buildings in St. Petersburg.
On March 4, 1702, by the decree of Peter I, the unfinished Nevyansk plant was transferred to the private property of N. D. Demidov. He proved to be a talented organizer and was able to significantly increase production volumes, with the support of the authorities. Demidov easily achieved the registration of additional peasants to factories, as well as relaxation in taxes and supervision by local administrations. Since 1716, the Demidovs became the first Russian exporters of iron to Western Europe. In total, the Demidovs built 55 metallurgical plants, including 40 in the Urals. By 1740, the Demidov factories produced about 64% of all Ural and 46% of Russian iron. At the same time, the productivity of the Demidovs' factories was on average 70% higher than that of state-owned. 
In April 1703, the first convoy with guns and iron made in the Urals (323 cannons, 12 mortars, 14 howitzers) was sent from the Utkinskaya pier on the Chusovaya River. From the factories, the guns were transported by horse-drawn transport 176 versts to Chusovaya, then they were delivered by water to Moscow or St. Petersburg, wintering in Tver. The first convoy arrived in Moscow in 11 weeks and 6 days, on July 18, 1703. Tests of the first guns, which had been cast in a hurry, were unsuccessful: of the first two guns, one was torn into 20 parts due to the poor quality of the cast iron. Later, in the course of mass testing of the guns, 102 guns out of 323 were torn apart. After that, A. A. Vinius ordered the guns to be tested at the factories before shipment. Later, due to the unsatisfactory quality of the metal and high transportation costs, the manufacture of cannons was moved to the factories of the Central part of Russia. By a decree on 19 January 1705, the smelting of cannons at the Ural factories was terminated.
In the first years of the 18th century, with the launch of the first state-owned and private factories, the production base of mining districts and the management system of the enterprises included in them began to be built. Almost all of the first Ural factories were built by local peasants, who were then assigned to factories. In 1700, the first registration of more than 1.6 thousand peasants to the Nevyansk plant was carried out. In 1703, an additional postscript was made to the same plant, which was already owned by N. D. Demidov. By 1762, about 70% of state peasants were assigned to factories in the Middle Urals and Kamsky Urals. The registered peasants at the factories performed mainly auxiliary work: they prepared firewood for the production of coal and heating houses, mined and fired ore and limestone, transported goods, and erected dams. On December 10, 1719, the privileges of miners were enshrined in law with the Berg Privilege, which allowed representatives of all classes to search for ores and build metallurgical plants. At the same time, manufacturers and artisans were exempted from state taxes and recruiting, and their houses were exempt from the post of troops. The law also guaranteed the inheritance of the ownership of factories, proclaimed industrial activity a matter of state importance and protected manufacturers from interference in their affairs by local authorities. The same law established the Berg Board, and managed the entire mining and metallurgical industry, and local administrations. The provisions of the Berg Privilege were extended to foreign nationals in 1720, and remained in force until the early 19th century.
In the 1720s, V.N. Tatishchev and, later, V. de Gennin, who founded the Yekaterinburg state-owned plant in 1723, were sent to the Urals as leaders of the local mining administration. Tatishchev came into conflict with Demidov, trying to weaken his power at the beginning of his work in the Urals. Demidov complained of infringement in Petersburg, and Tatishchev was recalled. Later, de Gennin, who came to replace Tatishchev, and completed the construction of the plant in 1722-1723, confirmed the abuse of the Demidovs in organizing the work of private plants. In 1720, Tatishchev established the Office of Mining Affairs in Kungur, and in 1722 transferred it to the Uktussky plant and renamed it the Siberian Mining Authority, and then the Siberian Higher Mining Authority. De Gennin transferred the Office to Yekaterinburg in 1723 and renamed the institution the Siberian Ober-Bergamt. The achievements of Tatishchev include creating competition for the Demidovs by inviting other mining companies to the Urals, developing rules for managing mining plants and staffing standards.
In the 1720s and 1740s, the Yekaterinburg plant, which gave rise to Yekaterinburg, was the largest metallurgical plant in Europe. The blast furnaces of the plant were more economical and more productive than the English and Swedish ones, which were considered the best in the industry at that time. If the specific consumption of charcoal per 100 kg of iron in Swedish furnaces ranged from 300 to 350 kg, then in Yekaterinburg the consumption of coal was 150–170 kg.
On January 18, 1721, a decree was issued that allowed factory owners, regardless of whether they had a noble rank, to buy serfs. At the same time, the villages purchased by the tycoon with their population could only be sold together with the factory. Later, these peasants and the factories that used their labor became known as possessory factories. Later, in 1744, the norms for the purchase of peasants with factories were established: in the factories of ferrous metallurgy with one blast furnace — 100 peasants,  and in the copper smelters - 200 men for every thousand pounds of copper. The addition of peasants to factories led to unrest and riots, which were suppressed during the 2nd half of the 18th century. Later, until the middle of the 19th century, free labor contributed to the intensive development of the metallurgical industry.
In the first quarter of the 18th century, 20 blast furnaces were built in the Urals, and in 1725 they smelted about 0.6 million poods of cast iron. During the same period, small businesses built several small metallurgical plants: Mazuevsky, Shuvakishsky, and Davydovsky. All of them existed for no more than 40 years. After the end of the Northern War, due to a decrease in demand for ferrous metals, the construction of iron smelters was suspended, mainly copper smelters were built. From 1721 to 1725, 11 plants were built in the Urals, of which only Nizhny Tagil was blast-furnace and iron-making, the rest were either copper-smelting (Polevskoy and Pyskorsky), or copper-smelting and iron-making (Verkhne-Uktussky and Yekaterinburg). In total, from 1701 to 1740, 24 state and 31 private metallurgical plants were built in the Urals, which determined the specialization of the region as a quality industrial metallurgical center. Private factories were characterized by higher profitability compared to state-owned. The growth of iron smelting in the Urals over 25 years (from 1725 to 1750) amounted to 250%: from 0.6 million poods to 1.5 million poods.
In the 1730s, the construction of fortresses and factories began in the Southern Urals, on the lands of the Bashkirs. In 1734, Anna Ioannovna approved the project of colonization of the Southern Urals submitted by the Chief Secretary of the Senate, I. K. Kirilov, and appointed him the Chief Commander of the Orenburg expedition. The tasks of the expedition included the construction of the fortress city of Orenburg, a line of defensive fortresses in order to exclude the raids of the Bashkirs, development of the natural resources of the region, and the opening of trade routes to Asia. In autumn of 1736, 100 versts to the south-east of Ufa and 10 versts from the Tabynsky fortress, the construction of the Resurrection (Tabynsky) copper smelter, the first in the Southern Urals, was started. On May 22, 1744, a decree of the Berg Collegium was issued, which allowed for the purchase from the Bashkirs and other owners of the deposit, forests and land for the construction of mining plants. In the period from 1745 to 1755, 20 factories were built on the territory of Bashkiria. By 1781, there were 38 factories in total. During the years of the Peasant War, 89 mining plants were damaged to varying degrees. With the beginning of the uprising, in the first half of October 1773, the closest private copper plants to Orenburg were seized: Verkhotorsky, Voskresensky, Preobrazhensky and Kano-Nikolsky plants. From November to December, all plants in the Southern Urals (24 plants) were seized. By the beginning of 1774, the uprising covered the Middle Urals, the number of captured factories in January reached 39, in February - 92. Individual factories resumed work for short periods of time in 1774, despite the occupation. With the suppression of the uprising, the work of the factories began to recover. By the beginning of 1775, about two thirds of all the Ural factories were working. By the end of 1775, the least destroyed factories of the Southern Urals began to resume their work.
Since the middle of the 18th century, state-owned Ural factories began to produce gold, and since 1819, platinum. Later, mining was permitted for all Russian subjects, which led to the rapid propagation of gold mines in the Urals. In the 1750s and 1760s, the construction of factories in the Urals continued intensively, thanks to the high profitability of production and the support of the authorities. In addition to the Demidovs and Stroganovs, entrepreneurs Osokins, Tverdyshevs, I. S. Myasnikov, and M. M. Pokhodyashin, as well as officials and nobles: P. I. Shuvalov, M. M. Golitsyn, and A. I. Glebov began to build factories. Only the Yekaterinburg and Kamensky plants remained in the state administration, the rest were transferred to private management. Later, many private factories were returned to the treasury for debts (in 1764 — the factories of Count Shuvalov, in 1770 — Count Chernyshevs, in 1781 — Count Vorontsovs). By the end of the 17th century, the largest companies in Russia were the Demidovs, Yakovlevs, Batashovs and Mosolovs, which produced about half of all iron in the country.
In 1767, about 140 metallurgical plants operating in the Urals made the region a leader in world iron production and secured a monopoly position in Russia in copper smelting. By the end of the 18th century, the number of serf workers in the Ural factories reached 74.1 thousand people, and the number of registered peasants reached 212.7 thousand people. In 1800, the Ural factories produced 80.1% of cast iron, 88.3% of iron, and 100% of copper of the all-Russian production volume. Thanks to this, Russia came out on top in the world for iron production and smelted from 20 to 27% of the world's copper.
From the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, problems with the supply of wood worsened at most of the Ural mining plants. The forests of the factory dachas were cut down at a distance of 5 to 25 versts. The old factories had even greater distances: the Kamensk plant had 50-55 versts, and the Nevyansk plant had 40-70 versts. Decrees were issued prohibiting unauthorized logging.