A cooling stave (100) for a metallurgical furnace, in particular for a blast furnace, has a metallic plate body (110) with a front face (112) and a rear face (114), and at least one internal coolant passage (120). A set of heat pipes (130) is associated to the coolant passage in the plate body (110) to improve heat transfer from the front face (112) to the associated coolant passage (120). According to the invention, each heat pipe (130) of the set is arranged within the plate body (110) with its condensation end portion (132) enclosed in metallic material of the plate body (110) contiguous to the associated coolant passage (120). Heat transfer from the condensation end portion (132) to the associated coolant passage (120) occurs through this region of metallic material.