Chromium world reserves

Russia and the RepubHc of South Africa account for more than half the world s chromite ore production. Almost all of the world s known reserves of chromium are located in the southeastern region of the continent of Africa. South Africa has 84% and Zimbabwe 11% of these reserves. The United States is completely dependent on imports for all of its chromium (4). The chromite s constitution varies with the source of the ore, and this variance can be important to processing. Typical ores are from 20 to 26 wt % Cr, from 10 to 25 wt % Fe, from 5 to 15 wt % Mg, from 2 to 10 wt % Al, and between 0.5 and 5 wt % Si Other elements that may be present are Mn, Ca, Ti, Ni, and V. AH of these elements are normally reported as oxides iron is present as both Fe(II) andFe(III) (5,6). 

Most of the world s chromium reserves occur in large, layered mafic/ultramafic intrusions such as the 2.06 Gyr old Bushveld Complex in the Republic of South Africa, where nearly mono-mineralic layers of chromite appear to result from the mixing of primitive and evolved liquids that... 

About 75% of the world s reserve base of chromium ore lies in South Africa, and the bar chart illustrates the dominance of South Africa in world chromite output. 

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