Chromite Ore Reserve in India

Chromite is an oxide of chromium and iron. The chemical composition of chromite is FeO.Cr2O3
 or Fe.Cr2O4. Chromite contains about 68% Cr2O3  and 32% FeO with Cr:Fe ratio of about 1.8:1. Chromite is the only commercial source of chromium. It occurs as a primary mineral in ultrabasic igneous rocks and is normally associated with peridotite, pyroxenite, dunite and serpentinite. Worldwide, high-alumina chromite, largely from podiform deposits, is used in refractory applications while iron-rich ores, largely from stratiform deposits, are utilized in metallurgical and chemical applications.

RESOURCES

Total resources of chromite in the country as on 1.4.2010 are estimated at 203 million tonnes, comprising 54 million tonnes reserves (27%) and 149 million tonnes remaining resources (73%). More than 93% resources of chromite are located in Odisha, mostly in the Sukinda valley in Cuttack and Jajpur districts. Minor deposits are scattered over Manipur, Nagaland, Karnataka, Jharkhand,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Grade-wise, charge-chrome grade accounts for 36% resources followed by ferro-chrome grade (19%), beneficiable grade (17% ) and refractory grade 5%. Low, others, unclassified and not-known grades together account for 23%.

Production:

The production of chromite stood at 2,950 thousand tonnes during 2012-13 which increased by 1% as against the production recorded in the previous year.

The share of public sector in total production was 24% in 2012-13 as compared to 21% in the previous year. About 71% of the total production was reported from captive mines in the current
year as compared to 74% in the previous year. Odisha continued to be the major chromite
producing state accounting for almost the entire production during 2012-13 and nominal production
was reported from Karnataka. Grade-wise analysis of production during 2012-13 reveals that 52% & above Cr2O3 fines accounted for 29%, 40%-52% Cr2O3, for 28% (lumps 3% and fines 25%), below 40% Cr2O3 for 22% (lumps 4% and fines 18%) and chromite concentrates for 21% of the total production.

Mine-head stocks of chromite at the end of 2012-13 was 2,563 thousand tonnes. The stocks increased by 8% from 2,366 thousand tonnes in the beginning of the year. Out of the total stocks, about 99% of stocks at the mines were held in Odisha during the year. The average daily employment of labour in
chromite mines during 2012-13 was 5660 as against 6845 in the previous year.

CONSUMPTION

The consumption of chromite in the organised sector increased by about 1% from 2,584,100 tonnes in 2011-12 to 2,602,300 tonnes in 2012-13. Almost entire consumption (94.31%) was in ferro-alloys/charge-chrome industry. In addition to above, chromite in substantial quantities is also
consumed in small-scale ferro-chrome units for which information is lacking. Besides, nominal consumption is reported by refractory industry and a negligible amount by others.

USES

In metallurgy, chromite is mainly used in the manufacture of ferro-chrome, sillico-chrome, charge-chrome and chromium metal. Chromium imparts additional strength, hardness and toughness to its alloys. It also shows resistance to corrosion to steel abrasion, reduces oxidation and flow of electricity. Stainless steel, high-speed tool steel, corrosion and heat-resistant steel are some of the important varieties of chromium steel. Ferro-chrome is of two types: (i) high carbon (containing 4-8% carbon) and (ii) low carbon (containing up to 2% carbon). The amount of chromium used in steel varies with the purpose. Low chromium steels (less than 5% chromium and small amount of nickel) are used in rails, automobiles, armour plates, armour piercing projectiles, etc. Intermediate chromium steels (3-12% Cr and small amounts of W, Mo or Si) are used in high-speed tools, valves for engines and other equipment requiring resistance to abrasion, corrosion and oxidation. Chromium steels include stainless steel (12-18% Cr) and super-stainless steel (12-30% Cr and 7-10% Ni) which are used for cutlery and cooking utensils and in aircraft and high-speed trains, respectively. Chromium

(17%) with iron (83%) is also used as ferritic stainless steel to manufacture coins.

Chromite is used in refractory industry because of its high resistance to corrosion, high melting point and ability to withstand sudden temperature changes and its chemically neutral character, moderate thermal expansion and mechanical strength. The ore is used in the form of lumps, bricks or cement in linings, specially of steel furnaces.

Chromite is used for manufacturing important chromium compounds like chromates and bichromates of sodium and potassium, chromium pigments like chromic oxide green and chromic acid, which in turn, are used in chromium-plating solution.

Chromium is an essential trace element for human health.

Industry:

Production of ferro-chrome/charge-chrome was mainly reported by Ferro Alloys Corp. Ltd, Shri Vasavi Industries Ltd, Balasore Industries Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd & Indian Metals & Ferro-Alloys Ltd. Tata Steel Ltd, Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd, and Indian Charge-chrome Ltd were amongst the major producers of charge-chrome in India. The charge-chrome contains 50 to 60% chromium and 6 to 8% carbon. Hard lumpy chromite is used for high-carbon ferro-chrome while friable ores and fine briquettes are used for low-carbon ferrochrome. Briquette fines along with lumpy ores were also consumed in charge-chrome plants. The important plants which produce chromite based refractories were Tata Steel Ltd (formerly OMC Alloys), Orissa Industries Ltd, Bhilai Refractories Ltd, Burn Statdard Co. Ltd, Joglekar Refractories and Ceramics (P) Ltd, and Associated Ceramics Ltd.

Ferro-chrome when added to steel imparts hardness, strength and augments its stainless characteristics. Carbon content classifies the ferro-chrome alloy into high carbon (6-8%),

medium carbon (3-4%) and low carbon (1.5-3%), although chromium content in all the three grades

is around 60-70 percent. Around 2.5 tonnes chrome ore with an estimated power consumption of

4,500 kWh is required to produce one tonne of ferro-chrome.

Ferro Alloys Corpn. Ltd, Garividi, Andhra Pradesh; GMR Technologies & Ind. Ltd, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh; Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh; Standard Chrome Ltd, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh; SAL Steel, Kachchh-Bhuj, Gujarat; Balasore Alloys Ltd, Balasore, Odisha; IDCOL Ferro Chrome Plant, Jajpur Road, Odisha; Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd, Theruballi, Odisha; Jindal Stainless Ltd, Duburi, Odisha; Nava Bharat Ferro Alloys Ltd, Dhenkanal, Odisha;Utkal

Manufacturing Services Ltd, Choudhwar, Odisha; Rawat Ferro Alloys, Cuttack, Odisha; Rohit Ferro

Tech. P. Ltd, Bishnupur, West Bengal and Sri Vasavi Ind. Ltd, Bishnupur, West Bengal are the major ferro-chrome producers.

A sizeable quantity of ferrochrome is also produced by units in the small-scale sector. Tata Steel Ltd, FACOR and Indian Charge Chrome Ltd, the three major producers of charge-chrome in the country are 100% export-oriented, having a total capacity of 182,500 tpy. Tata Steel with its charge-chrome plant at Bamnipal, Odisha, has a capacity of 55,000 tpy. FACOR has a capacity of 65,000 tpy at its Randia Plant, Bhadrak district, Odisha. Indian Charge Chrome Ltd (merged with Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited), Cuttack district, Odisha has an installed capacity of 62,500 tpy.

Vishnu Chemicals Ltd has plants at Medak, Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) to produce chromium chemicals. Sodium dichromate capacity at its plants is reported to be 70,000 tpy,70,000 tonnes Basic Chromium,1,000 t Chromic Sulphate Acid and 1000t

Potasium Dichromate. There were two producers of chromium chemicals in small quantities in the

organised sector; namely, Tamil Nadu Chromates and Chemicals Ltd and Krebs & Cie (India) Pvt.

Ltd, Kolkata.

WORLD REVIEW

World resources of shipping-grade chromite are more than 12 billion tonnes, sufficient to meet

conceivable demand for centuries. US chromium resources are mostly in Stillwater Complex in

Montana. Other countries which possess sizeable quantities of resources are Finland, India, Russia, Turkey, Brazil and Albania. About 90% of world's 480 million chromium reserves are concentrated together in Kazakhstan (48%) and South Africa (42%).

The world production of chromite decreased marginally from 26.5 million tonnes in 2011 to 25.8 million tonnes in 2012. South Africa was the leading producer, contributing about 44% to the total world production, followed by Kazakhstan (20%), India (12%) and Turkey (9%). Other significant producers were Turkey, Brazil, Finland and Zimbabwe.