Chromite

Mineral Facts:
Chemical Formula: FeCr2O4
Oxide of iron and chromium,
Chromium oxide 68.0%.The iron
may be partly replaced by
magnesium and the chromium by
aluminum and ferric iron.

Colors: Black to brownish

black. Streak - Dark Brown
Hardness: 5.5
Density: 4.6
Cleavage: It has a conchoidal or
uneven fracture and no distinct
cleavage.

Crystallography: Isometric,
Habit Octahedral
Crystals small and rare. Occurs in
octahedrons, but is commonly found
massive, having a granular or
compact structure.

Luster:. Weak submetallic luster,

often faint.

Optics: (Refractive Index)

= Opaque

Composition, Structure and Associated Minerals:

A common constituent of peridotite rocks and the serpentines derived from them. The
mineral is found not only as crystals embedded in the rock mass, but also as nodules in
it and as veins traversing it. One of the first minerals to separate from a cooling rock
magma, and its large ore deposits are thought to have been derived by such magmatic
differentiation. It is probably in all cases a segregation from the magma producing the
rock. Associated with chrysolite asbestos, serpentine, corundum, etc Being very
durable, chromite occurs in detrital deposits and in a few places the mineral occurs in
the form of sand on beaches.

Identification and Diagnostics

It resembles magnetite and franklinite in appearance. Chromite is easily distinguished
from all other minerals but picotite by its crystallization and its reaction for chromium.
It is distinguished from picotite by its inferior hardness and its higher specific gravity.
When finely powdered and fused on charcoal with sodium carbonate gives a magnetic
residue. Imparts a green color to the borax and salt of phosphorus beads (a test for
chromium). It is usually nonmagnetic, but some specimens show slight magnetism
because of the admixture of magnetite with chromite.

Industrial Uses of Chromite

Chromite is the sole source of the metal chromium, which is the chrome-iron alloy
employed in the manufacture of special grades of steel. Chromium salts are used in
tanning and as pigments and plating. The crude ore, mixed with coal-tar, kaolin,
bauxite, or some other ingredient, is molded into bricks and burned, after which the
bricks are used as linings in metallurgical furnaces. These bricks stand rapid changes of
temperature and are not attacked by molten metals.
It is widely spread through serpentine rocks at many places, notably in Brussa, Asia
Minor; at Banat and elsewhere in Norway; at Solnkive, in Rhodesia; in the northern
portion of New Caledonia; at various points in Macedonia; in the Urals, Russia; in
Beluchistan and Mysore, India. The annual production of chromite in the world is large,
as it is an important industrial mineral. Major producers currently include South
Africa, Turkey and India.
It is found at many locations but only sparingly in the United States. In the United
States the mineral is known at several points in a belt of serpentine on the east side of
the Appalachian Mountains, and at many points in the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra
Nevada and the Coast Ranges. It has been mined at Bare Hills, Maryland; in Siskiyou,
Tehama and Shasta Counties, California; in Converse County, Wyoming; and in
Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania; and; in 1914, some was washed from
chrome sand at Baltimore, Maryland. Small amounts were historically produced in the
certain states of the US, including Pennsylvania, Maryland,North Carolina Montana,

Oregon and California and Wyoming.