Chrome Mining In Southern Rhodesia Shows Wide Variety Of Operations

CHROMIUM, one of the most vital of the strategic metals, has constantly increasing importance as research expands potential uses in alloy steel metallurgy. All signs point to a steadily growing use for chrome ore, and the general subject has received a great deal of attention recently.1 A relatively little known country, Southern Rhodesia produced a total of 5.949 million tons, or 18.6 pct of the total world chrome output, between 1906 and 1950, according to figures from the U. S. Dept. of Commerce. According to U. S. Bureau of Mines figures, Southern Rhodesia produced 291,525 tons in 1950 and 300,267 tons in 1951, or approximately 13 and 11 pct, respectively, of world production for the two years. In 1953 the Rhodesian Vanadium Corp. produced about 85,000 tons of which probably 7,000 tons were concentrate. Production by other companies was high. Large in themselves, the figures assume even greater significance because most of this output is of metallurgical grade.