Overview of the Chromium industry in South Africa
Properties of chromium:
→ appearance: a hard, malleable, shiny silvery metal which takes a high polish
→ hardness and resistance to heat, corrosion and oxidation, makes it suitable in making
stainless steel and other specialty steels resistant to corrosive effects of water
Occurrence of chrome deposits:
→ Layered intrusions: which are large bodies of layered igneous rock that cooled very
slowly in large underground chambers of molten rock.
→ Because chromite deposits in layered intrusions tend to be tabular in form they are
known as stratiform deposits.
The mineral chromite:
→ RSA: Chrome ores have chromite content varying from 20-45%
Uses of chromium: → part of top 50 critical minerals
, Chromium value chain: *NB
Understand/ read:
Properties of chromium:
→ appearance: a hard, malleable, shiny silvery metal which takes a high polish
→ hardness and resistance to heat, corrosion and oxidation, makes it suitable in making
stainless steel and other specialty steels resistant to corrosive effects of water
Occurrence of chrome deposits:
→ Layered intrusions: which are large bodies of layered igneous rock that cooled very
slowly in large underground chambers of molten rock.
→ Because chromite deposits in layered intrusions tend to be tabular in form they are
known as stratiform deposits.
The mineral chromite:
→ RSA: Chrome ores have chromite content varying from 20-45%
Uses of chromium: → part of top 50 critical minerals
, Chromium value chain: *NB
Understand/ read:
