92 • Marine Minerals: Exploring Our New Ocean Frontier 



with the aid of government price supports, or in 

 times of national emergencies. Under normal eco- 

 nomic conditions of world trade, U.S. chromite re- 

 sources are not competitive with foreign sources of 

 supply. There are 43 known domestic deposits esti- 

 mated to contain approximately 7 million tons of 

 contained chromic oxide as demonstrated resources 

 and 25 million tons as identified resources.^' U.S. 

 chromite deposits range between 0.4 percent and 

 25.8 percent chromic oxide content. 



The major known domestic deposits of chromite 

 minerals are the stratiform deposits in the Stillwater 

 Complex in Montana and in small podiform-type 

 deposits in northern California, southern Oregon, 

 and southern Alaska. Placer chromite deposits oc- 

 cur in beach sands in southwest Oregon and stream 

 sands in Georgia, North Carolina, and Penn- 

 sylvania. 



Although 91 percent of U.S. demonstrated chro- 

 mite resources and 84 percent of identified resources 

 could be converted as low-chromium ferrochro- 

 mium, the U.S. Bureau of Mines doubts that do- 

 mestic chromite resources could be produced eco- 

 nomically even with much higher market prices 

 than the current $470 per ton for low-chromium 

 ferrochromium and $600 per ton for high-chro- 

 mium ferrochromium. Most low-chrome ferrochro- 

 mium could be produced domestically for a little 

 less than about $730 per ton, and high-chrome fer- 

 rochromium would cost even more.^^ 



With enormous reserves of all grades of chromite 

 in other parts of the world, it is doubtful that the 

 meager chromite resources of the United States 

 could justify the investment needed to rebuild the 

 domestic ferrochromium production capacity that 

 has been lost. In addition, there is currently sig- 

 nificant overcapacity in the ferrochromium indus- 

 try in the market economy countries. Estimates in 

 1986 showed production capacity of 2.6 million tons 

 compared to demand of 1.9 million tons.^^ There 

 have been no significant shortages of ferrochro- 

 mium encountered in world markets in the past to 

 indicate that things might change in the future. 



^'J. Lemons, Jr., E. Boyle, Jr., and C. Kilgore, Chromium 

 Availability— Domestic, IC 8895 (Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of 

 Mines, 1982), p. 4. 



"Ibid., p. 9. 



"W. Dresler, "A Feasibility Study of Ferrochromium Extraction 

 from Bird River Concentrates in a Submerged-Arc Furnace," CIM 

 Bulletin, vol. 79 (September 1986), pp. 98-105. 



Domestic Production 



The United States was the world's leading chro- 

 mite producer in the 1800s, but, since 1900, sel- 

 dom more than 1,000 tons have been produced an- 

 nually except for periods of wartime emergencies. 

 During both World Wars and the Korean War, 

 production increased when the Federal Govern- 

 ment subsidized domestic chromite production. Do- 

 mestic production ceased in 1961 when the last pur- 

 chase contract under the Defense Production Act 

 terminated. Since then, there was one attempt to 

 reopen a mine closed in the 1950s, but, after pro- 

 ducing only a small amount of chromite for export 

 in 1976, the mine was again abandoned. There has 

 been no domestic production reported since. 



The United States imported and consumed about 

 512,000 tons of chromite ore and concentrate in 

 1984, primarily for use in chemicals and refracto- 

 ries. In 1973, the United States ferrochromium ca- 

 pacity was about 400,000 tons (contained chro- 

 mium); by 1984, domestic capacity had shrunk to 

 about 187,000 tons — a decrease of about 54 per- 

 cent.^" U.S. capacity is expected to shrink further, 

 to perhaps 150,000 tons by 1990. '' Ferrochromium 

 production in 1984 was about 51,000 tons (con- 

 tained chromium), or approximately 27 percent uti- 

 lization of installed capacity. ^^ Production in 1984 

 was nearly four times that of 1983 as a result of 

 government contracts for the conversion of stock- 

 piled chromite to ferrochromium for the National 

 Defense Stockpile. Once upgrading of the stock- 

 pile is completed, ferrochromium production may 

 return to levels at or below 1983 production (13,000 

 tons — contained chromium). In 1984, only two of 

 the six domestic ferrochromium firms were oper- 

 ating plants, and those only at low production levels 

 or intermittently. 



Future Demand and Technological Trends 



Commodity analysts differ on the oudook for fu- 

 ture chromium demand. One U.S. Bureau of 



^"G.Guenther, "Ferroalloys," The Competitiveness of American 

 Metal Mining and Processing, ch. VIII (Washington, DC: Congres- 

 sional Research Service, 1986), p. 127. 



"Papp, "Chromium," Mineral Facts and Problems — 1985 Edi- 

 tion, p. 141. 



"Papp, "Chromium," Minerals Yearbook— 1984, p. 220. 



