Cliffs to go into the ferrochrome business
U.S. firm expects to be processing chromite ore by 2015
Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 11/23/2009 1:05:14 PM
Cliffs Natural Resources of Cleveland is buying three chromite deposits in northern Ontario from Freewest Resources Canada of Montreal and will spend $4 million to start development of a ferrochrome plant along the north shore of Lake Superior in Canada. Ferrochrome is an essential element in stainless steelmaking and currently is imported in North America from suppliers in South Africa and several other countries.
Cliffs management says the plan is to process Freewest's chromite assets--the Black Thor, Black Label and Big Daddy deposits--to generate up to 2 million metric tons/year of high-grade concentrate. That material then will be processed into up to 800,000 metric tons of ferrochrome when the smelting operation opens in 2015.
Joseph A. Carrabba, CEO of Cliffs, a major iron ore supplier, says the long-term chrome-development project will broaden the company's mineral diversification. "Ferrochrome is imported by the world's fastest growing steel markets and many countries have categorized it as a strategic resource," he says in a statement. "Given the operation's unique location, our objective will be to supply ferrochrome to stainless steel producers around the world."
Cliffs expects commercial plans to bring the deposit to market will include construction of the open-pit mine and mine-site processing facility, as well as a remote electric-arc furnace (EAF) to further process the ore into high-grade ferrochrome.
Ferrochrome is made mostly in South Africa, Kazakhstan, Finland and Turkey and is a critical ingredient in the production of stainless steel, as well as other steels and nonferrous alloys. End markets for stainless steel, alloy steel and other products that use ferrochrome include transportation, electrical, engineering, building and construction and metal goods.
Chromite, itself, is a key industrial mineral in the steel industry for the manufacture of refractory bricks, furnace linings and foundry sand. Chromite is also used in the production of chromium chemicals.
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