CHROME ORES

Chromium (III) oxide is the inorganic compound of the formula Cr2O3. It is one of the principal oxides of chromium and is used as a pigment. In nature, it occurs as the rare mineral eskolaite. The chromium extracted from chromite is used in chrome plating and alloying for production of corrosion resistant superalloys, nichrome, and stainless steel. Chromium is used as a pigment for glass, glazes, and paint, and as an oxidizing agent for tanning leather. It is also sometimes used as a gemstone.

World resources are estimated to be greater than 12 billion tons of shipping-grade chromite, sufficient to meet demand for centuries. In the region of 95% of the world's chromium resources are concentrated in Southern Africa and Kazakhstan.

south Africa is the world's largest producer of ferrochrome. The country holds about 70% of the world's total chrome reserves, mostly located in the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) ores, and produces 75% of the world's ferrochrome. India and Kazakhstan are other major producers.

Chromite is mined primarily from the UG2 and LG and MG chromitite seams of which the UG2 also contains significant amounts of PGE's. Thus several platinum mines produce chromite as a by product. There are several primary chrome mines, specifically maintained to provide chromite feed to the developing ferrochrome industry. Most of South Africa's chrome mines are developed along the Eastern BIC, in the Steelport Valley.

Around 92% of the all the chromium produced in the world is consumed in steel, to which it brings a high resistance to corrosion, temperature and wear. The steel which uses chromium most extensively in stainless steel- stainless steel consumes more than 80% of the chromium used in steel application. Stainless steel accounts for only 2% of the global steel output, however the average tonne of stainless steel has a chromium content of 18%. Most non-stainless steel does not contain chromium, however certain alloy steels and rebar grades do have a significant amount of chromium content.

Chrome ore contains too many impurities to be added directly into a steelmaking furnace. Prior to being consumed in steelmaking, chrome ore must be smelted in an electric furnace together with a carbon reductant, which eliminates most of the impurities in the ore and produces a product known as ferrochrome. The global ferrochrome industry is concentrated in four countries, which together account for more than 90% of world ferrochrome production. These countries are South Africa, China, India and Kazakhstan. More than half of the chrome ore imported into China now comes from South Africa.

Different types of Chrome ores traded by Matter Investments are: Chrome concentrate, Chrome Lumpy, Chrome ROM, Chrome fines and Ferrochrome.