How to process Chrome ore with Mining equipment?

What is Chrome ore?

Chromite is an oxide mineral of chromium and iron. It has high carbon ferrochrome, medium carbon ferrochrome, low carbon ferrochrome, micro carbon ferrochrome, metal chromium, and silicon chromium alloy. It’s quite hard, black and semi metallic.

Chromite is the main source of metal chromium and can also be used for refractory materials at high temperature. Chromite is generally lumped or granular. It has a normal spinel structure. Chromite Cr2O3 content of 67.91%, is the main source of industrial chromium, also can produce high-temperature refractory, with weak magnetism. Large chromite deposits are mainly found in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Russia and Cuba.

Chrome ore distribution in the world :

Chrome ore is widely distributed in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Belgium, Sudan, Albania, Turkey, Iran, India, the Philippines, kazakhstan, Finland, Russia.

South Africa’s Chromite inventories rank first, and chrome ore reserves are as high as 72%. However, the amount of chrome ore exported to China from Zimbabwe and Kazakhstan, which has fairly high reserves, is not large. Turkey, with a reserve of only 0.9%, has become the second largest importer of chromite in China. Of course, such as Finland and India, although the export volume is small, but its own ferrochrome smelting technology is also high, ferrochrome quality is better.

Chrome ore Applications:

Metal chromium is mainly used to smelt special alloys with cobalt, nickel and tungsten. These special and special alloys are indispensable materials for the production of guns, missiles, rockets and ships in the aviation, aerospace, automobile, shipbuilding, and national defense industries.

On refractories, chromite is used to make chrome bricks, chrome magnesite bricks and other special refractory materials.

In chemical industry, chromite is mainly used to produce sodium dichromate, and then other chromium compounds, used in pigments, textile, electroplating, leather and other industries, as well as catalysts and catalyst agents.

Chrome ore type existing in nature :

In the nature, the chrome ore are existing in sand or alluvial raw material, this kind tin ore called sand chrome ore or alluvial chrome ore, the raw material may be with stone, sand, gravel, soil, sticky clay, some times with other magnetic iron, ilmenite, hematite and other minerals. The sand/alluvial chrome ore mine site is possible near river, on land , on mountain, or in the bushes, ect. The chrome ore concentrate is visible by eye, usually size can be several mm or below 1 mm.  

The other type chrome ore is hard rock material, the chrome ore is existing in hard rock, such as normal stone, quartz vein above the land. The rock chrome ore is mostly like to be with iron together. 

 Chrome ore as below pictures:

How to process chrome ore with the chrome ore mining equipment?

The ore dressing technology of chrome ore mainly has Gravity separation process, the chrome ore mining equipment are jig separator, shaking table, spiral classifier, centrifugal concentrator and spiral chute, and sometimes the concentrate will be selected by weak magnetic separator or high intensity magnetic separator to further improve the grade of chromium concentrate and the ratio of chromium iron. Besides, some mines will also use flotation and flocculation flotation methods. But the most popular and common used mining method is by gravity and magentic separation for the chrome ore mining equipment.

The selection of chrome ore mining equipment is closely related to the physical and chemical properties of chromium ore. Because chromite is weakly magnetic, with the continuous improvement of high intensity magnetic separation technology, the technology of purifying chromium ore with high intensity magnetic separation has been very mature. Moreover, because the magnetic separation process has no pollution to the environment, the chrome ore magnetic separation technology has been popularized and applied in the major mineral processing plants.

JXSC mine machinery Company in China has more than 30 years professional experience at chrome ore processing plant, design full set chrome ore process flowchart , provide complete set chrome ore mining equipment, can send engineer to mine site for mining equipment installation and commissioning guidance. Have already built many chrome ore processing plant in Africa countries. Include: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Albania, India, Philippines, kazakhstan,Russia,China,ect.

Below the flowchart description that JXSC Engineer recommend for the chrome ore processing plant:

Alluvial/sand Chrome ore processing plant:

Feeding->washing->sieving->primary gravity separation -> 2^nd stage gravity concentration->magnetic separation for upgrading

Chrome ore Feeding: can be vibration feeding machine, feeding hopper, belt feeder, wheel loader or excavator feed directly. Usually will make grizzly bar on vibration feeder or hopper to remove big waste stones firstly. Depends on process capacity to choose suitable chrome ore mining equipment.

Chrome ore Washing: the chrome ore washing machine is for washing clean the clay and mud in raw material, most popular used are chrome ore washing trommel scrubber and chrome ore washing trommel screen. Chrome ore trommel scrubber washer is for washing chrome ore raw material that with many sticky clay, chromite ore washing trommel screen is for wash chromite ore raw material that without much sticky clay. Depends on raw material conditions to choose suitable chrome ore washing equipment.

Chrome ore Sieving: after washing, then sieve out some bigger waste stones ,the under screen slurry will go to next separation machine. This sieving process can use trommel screen or vibration screen or chrome ore high frequency vibration screen which is wided used chrome ore mining equipment 

Chrome ore Primary Gravity Separation: it is for primary chrome ore concentration process, jig separator or spiral chute separator are best choice of chrome ore gravity mining equipment.The concentrate ore discharged from them will send to 2^nd stage concentration machine.

2^nd Stage Concentration process: the concentrate ore from chrome ore jig machine or spiral chute spearator will go to chrome ore shaking table concentration machine for final concentration, can get high grade chrome ore concentrate. Shaking table is a good concentration effect mining equipment for chrome ore processing plant. 

Chromite ore Upgrading: if need much higher chrome ore grade, can use high intensity magnetic separator to upgrade it. The chrome ore mangetic separator is also important chrome ore mining equipment for final upgrading.

Rock type tin ore processing plant, the flowchart can be as below:

Feeding-> crushing->grinding->primary separation -> final concentration-> upgrading 

The feeding way, primary separation, final concentration and chrome ore refining process are almost the same as above alluvial/sand chromite ore processing plant.

Below are the crushing and grinding stage description for rock chrome ore processing plant:

Crushing: for crushing the big rock chrome ore stone to smaller size before grinding.

crushers can be rough rock chrome ore jaw crusher, rock chrome ore fine jaw crusher, rock chrome cone crusher, rock chrome hammer crusher, roller crusher rock, depends on the rockchrome ore feeding size and process capacity to use which kind crusher.

Grinding: after crush the stone to smaller size, need to grind to power by chrome ore ball mill grinding machine or wet pan mill or other rock grinding machine, so the chrome concentrate can released out from stone. Then go to chrome ore separation machine and concentration machine.( chrome ore shaking table, chrome ore spiral chute, chrome ore jig separator,ect)

Below Some mine site pictures of our 5TPH capacity chrome ore mining equipment in Albania