Chromite Ores General Information

Chromium was first discovered as a metal in the 17th century, but it was only in the 18th century before it was used commercially.
In the 20th century, the use of chromium exploded due to the industrialization and surge in demand for stainless steel. Chromium usage can be divided into 3 categories:
Metallurgy : 90%
Chemical : 5%
Refractory and Foundry : 5%
Chromite ores are converted into ferro chrome through smelting with carbon or silicon. Metallurgical ferro chrome major usage is the production of stainless steel.
Chromium biggest benefit in the metallurgy ferro chrome usage is its corrosion resistance, hardness, strength and bright furnish. These benefits allows ferro chrome to be used in the production of stainless steels, and heat resistant steel. In the production of stainless steel, the use of ferro chrome has no substitute, so as long as stainless steels are being produced worldwide, the demand for chromite ores will exist. Up to 25% of the weight of stainless steel is ferro chrome.
South Africa is the largest producer of chromite ores, where over 70% of world chromite ore reserves are believed to be located. Today South Africa supplies approximately 50% of world's supplies of chromite ores.