Metal Ore
Chrome ore
Chromium, a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point, is a silvery white, hard, and bright metal plating on steel and other material. Commonly known as chrome, it is one of the most important and indispensable industrial metals because of its hardness and resistance to corrosion. But it is used for more than the production of stainless steel and nonferrous alloys; it is also used to create pigments and chemicals used to process leather.* * Kropschot, S.J., and Doebrich, Jeff, 2010, Chromium—Makes stainless steel stainless: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2010–3089, 2 p
Malatya/Turkey hosts some of the highest grade chrome ore in the world
Chromium as a metallic element was first discovered two hundred years ago, in 1797 in the Ural Mountains. In 1827, deposits of chromite ore on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border were identified and USA became the monopoly supplier for a number of years. But high-grade chromite deposits were found near Bursa in Turkey in 1848 and with the exhaustion of the Maryland deposits around 1860, it was Turkey that then became the main source of supply. This continued for many years until the mining of chromium ore started in India and Southern Africa around 1906. The first patent for the use of chromium in steel was granted in 1865 – but the large-scale use of chromium had to wait until chromium metal could be produced by the alumino-thermic route, developed in the early 1900s and when the electric arc furnace could smelt chromite into the master alloy, ferrochromium.Whilst metal finishing brought shine and brilliance to add to the catalogue of chromium colours, a true vocation came with the invention of stainless steels, for chromium is the ingredient that makes steel stainless.
Tailings of the mine and some lower quality ore is processed in the concentrating facility
Mines that deliver consistent quality ore
Turkish chrome ore is demanded worlwide in steel production. Despite being a leading ore exporter, Turkish mines are still under utilized. If you wish to secure your trade in chrome alloys, then be a part of the supply chain from the start.