Local news: the only chromite mine in the USA

Recently another battle (on top of the one over a liquid natural gas shipping terminal on the bay) between the developers and our local neo-Luddites has happened because a mining company has applied to construct a chromite mine in Coos County.

Why here?

COOS BAY - Erosion, geologic events left unique natural resources in Coos County that could support the only U.S. chromite mine.

It’s common to find large chromite mining operations in South Africa, Kazakhstan and Turkey. But in Oregon? In Coos County?

Currently, the United States imports 100 percent of its chromite, but that soon will change when Oregon Resources Corp. starts sifting through piles of sand here later this year.
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The last time the heavy mineral had been produced here and in this country was during World War II, with a blip in the Korean War. Then 20 years ago, Oregon Resources showed up on the South Coast, looking to mine high-grade chromite ore.

Industrial Minerals Corporation LTD., based in Australia, founded Oregon Resources in 1989, specifically to mine black sands for chromite, zircon and garnet in forestlands near Coos Bay through a one-of-a-kind chromite mining operation.

Over ages, nature eroded the Klamath Mountains down rivers to the sea, and longshore currents then swept the tiny sand sediments northward, forming the mineral-bearing placer deposits found between Seven Devils and the mouth of the Rogue River. Over time the subduction zone has uplifted the paleo-beaches two to three miles inland and 600 feet above sea level, to where they currently rest and where Oregon Resources will be mining. There are no other beach chromite placer deposits of this sort in the world.
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Because of its hardness and resistance to heat, the chromite Oregon Resources is exporting predominantly will be used as a metal in making molds for automotive and other heavy equipment parts. Garnet is a water-jet cutting medium, and zircon is foundry sand often used for tile glazing.

Montana has an underground hard-rock chromite deposit, but it’s not economical to mine because of its low grade and limited transportation access without waterway.

There are several hard-rock garnet mines operating in Idaho and one in New York, and a single zircon mine in northern Florida. The zircon mine, which is at Trail Ridge, also is a beach deposit and has been in use since 1948.

Most chromite, over 90 percent, is converted into ferrochromium, which is used predominantly for stainless steel, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

While America may import 100 percent of its chromite ore, it is still the world’s second leading producer of stainless steel. Oregon Resources will export roughly 130,000 tons of finished product a year by water, rail and truck. One-third will go to markets in Australia and Asian countries, such as China and Indonesia; one-third to Europe; and one-third will stay in the U.S.

One of the biggest reasons that Reagan wanted "constructive engagement" with South Africa while everyone else was pushing for sanctions was because the US gets most of its chromium and vanadium from there.

I wrote about this before:

Maybe that's why I feel so at home here. In fact this is the first time that I've felt "at home" since I left South Africa over 40 years ago. In those 40 years of wondering all over the world, I always felt like a stranger in strange lands till I moved here. The dirt here is my kind of dirt. I love the smell of the soil on my farm just like I loved the smell of the soil of my grandfather's farm in South Africa.

Now, if only I can get the locals to realize that chromite is a strategic mineral and, since "the only other chromite sources in Africa are drying up," we could fill a real need. Of course there are lots of folks here who hate progress and are opposing building a LNG (liquid natural gas) terminal on Coos Bay as well as the chromite mining. I understand their concerns. They don't want to destroy this small piece of paradise that we live in but there are more and more mouths to feed everyday and, as I said: chromite is a strategic mineral.