Chromite Deposits

Deepak Meena
Int.Mtech GT

Chrome: Essential in the Green Economy!

harden steel, to manufacture stainless steel, and to form alloys

plating to produce a hard, beautiful surface; prevents corrosion.

gives glass an emerald green colour; responsible for the green colour of
emeralds and the red colour of rubies
a catalyst
dichromates such as K2Cr2O7 are oxidizing agents and are used in
quantitative analysis and also in tanning leather
compounds are used in the textile industry and for tanning leather
used by the aircraft and other industries for anodizing aluminum
forming refractory bricks and shapes - high melting point, moderate
thermal expansion, and stable crystalline structure

Some Uses
Wheels for
your
wheels!

Ball bearings: Almost everything

runs on them!

Something to
dye for!!

For really
strong
pipesand
much more!

Where does chrome come from?

Occurs in the mineral chromite (FeCr2O4)

Mostly obtained from hard-rock mines
Some from beach sands containing chromite
Almost all deposits occur in a relatively rare rock
type ultramafic rocks
These formed beneath ancient oceans or in rifts
connected to oceans
Rocks hosting these deposits have unique compositions
(very rich in magnesium) and formed at very high
temperatures (~1400oC)
Chromite occurs in layers or pods in the ultramafic
intrusion

A few deposits are in beach sands that formed from

the weathering of ultramafic rocks

Lets look at the way in which these deposits form

Step 1: Melting in the upper mantle,

melt rises to form a magma pool , 5 -10
km below the earths surface

Step 3: Crystals settle to the bottom of

melt chamber, forming layers

Step 2: Melt begins to cool,

precipitating mg-rich minerals
(olivine, pyroxene) and chromite

Step 4; magma is recharged

many times, forming multiple
layers

Chromite forms distinct layers, but how does it accumulate without olivine or
pyroxene? Need to stop silicate precipitation but continue chromite accumulation.

How does this happen?

How Does Chromite Form

These diagrams are the result of
experiments that duplicate the
natural process
This shows how the main
silicate minerals, olivine and
pyroxene, along with chromite,
crystallize from a high
temperature melt, as follows:
The melt was introduced into a
magma chamber as a liquid, 46km below the earth's surface
Minerals began to crystallize at
Point A
As it cooled, it reached Point B,
the boundary where both olivine
and chromite crystallize
If the melt is not changed in
composition, it continues to cool,
precipitating olivine and
chromite along the line until it
reaches point C.
At C, it begins to precipitate
pyroxene, and much less
chromite.

No massive chromite
layers formed!!

How Are the Massive Chromite Layers Formed

As olivine and chromite precipitate

together, from B to E, chromite only
forms about 1% of the rock, and
isnt recoverable
At point E, the melt becomes
contaminated, because some of the
roof to the magma chamber drops
into it
This contaminant should be silica
(quartz) rich, with a low melting
temperature
Contamination causes the melt to
shift composition to point H in the
chromite-only precipitation zone
Until all of this contaminate is used
up (from points H to G), only
chromite precipitates, and settle to
the bottom of the partially-filled
magma chamber, forming a massive
chromite layer
Once the melt cools and reaches
the co-precipitation line, chromite is
then diluted by olivine, and
eventually (points C and D)
pyroxene, to make dunite and
peridotite.

Summarizing: Contamination Causes Chromite Layers

World chromite production

South Africa, India and Kazakhstan = 78%
Brazil, Finland, Russia, Zimbabwe and Turkey =12%
Canada poised to be the next major producer