EXPLORATION & DISCOVERY: CHRONIUM

Canada imports all of its chromium requirements, mostly as natural ores and concentrates, but also as ferrochromium. In the first nine months of 1992, imports of ores and concentrates fell by about 22% compared with 1991 figures. For the same period, ferrochromium imports were down 24%.

Since 1988, the fall in imports of ores and concentrates as well as the general downward trend in imports of ferrochromium reflects the gradual increase in the use of stainless steel scrap as secondary chromium feed. It also reflects the depressed state of the Canadian stainless steel and specialty steel industry.

In 1992, additional studies were done on a few projects aimed at developing Canada’s chromium resources. Coleraine Mining pursued a feasibility study on its integrated chromium-ferrochromium production project. The project consists of producing a high-carbon ferrochromium from local chromium ore, to supply the Atlas Stainless Steel plant, a division of Sammi Atlas Inc. of Korea.

Metallurgical tests on local ore, done at Quebec’s Mineral Research Centre and at Mannesman Demag in Germany, have confirmed that a high-quality ferrochromium can be manufactured at a competitive cost. Studies underway are considering the advantages of building a 20,000 tonne/year ferrochromium plant close to the stainless steel plant to supply the ferrochromium in a molten state to cut production costs.

Coleraine has already entered into an agreement with Ege Metals Endustri, a consortium of Korean companies based in Istanbul, Turkey. The agreement is designed to develop and operate the ferrochromium complex. The complex could be in operation by the end of 1994.

The second project of importance is the Manitoba Bird River nickel-chrome masteralloy project. This new “masteralloy” would contain about 40% chromium and 20% nickel, and would supplement and/or substitute for scrap stainless steel which makes up to 45% of the feed to produce stainless steel.

The Manitoba government has been working closely with the industry on this project. Atlas Stainless Steels on the product user side, as well as Falconbridge and Inco on the supplier side for nickel and chromium ores, have shown interest in this advanced research project. A new, larger furnace will be useful to outline the pre-feasibility physical data requirements for the project.

The short-term outlook for the market calls for the stabilization of prices followed by a slow recovery. The industry is not profitable at current price levels. Further reductions in production capacity outside South Africa are expected to bring the market back into balance. However, over the next few years the large Russian and Kazakhstan producers could disrupt the market’s developing balance. Driven by collapsing domestic demand and the need to generate foreign exchange earnings, exports from these countries could remain a major threat to Western suppliers.