Proud distributors of South African minerals and commodities.

Chromium
About 58 per cent of the west's chromium ores and 68,3 per cent of the world's known reserves of chromite, the principal chromium mineral of economic importance, are located in South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex.
The United States imports three quarters of its chromium and 60 per cent of its ferrochrome from South Africa.

More than 85 per cent of all chromium produced is destined for the production of stainless steels and the closely related heat-resistant steels. Chromium, together with other metals such as copper, nickel, titanium and vanadium, is added to iron to produce steels with greatly increased strength and rust- and corrosion-resistance. Ferrochrome is an essential ingredient of stainless steel.
Iron Ore
The principal deposits in South Africa are located in the Northern Cape at Sishen, from where export ore is transported via a purpose built rail link to Saldanha Bay on the Atlantic Ocean 800 kilometres away. Other high grade haematite deposits occur near Sishen at Thabazimbi on the northern rim of the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) and elsewhere on the BIC.

Iron is largely used in the form of alloys with other metals in the production of a variety of steels from cast iron to stainless steels. Added value in the context of iron arises from a higher production of ferro-alloys and speciality steels, made by the alloying of iron with other metals found in abundance locally. As well as exporting mined ore, Iscor is making steel to compete on world markets.

Manganese
With reserves totaling in excess of 4 000 Mt, 80 per cent of the world's known manganese ore deposits are located in the Northern Cape and the North West province.
High grade metallurgical manganese ore is generally smelted and refined to produce ferromanganese, an alloy which has long been used in the processing of steel with most of the manganese alloy production in other countries originating from South African ore.
Manganese is classified as a 'strategic' metal by the United States: that country relies on South Africafor around 30 per cent of its total manganese content in all forms. including 25 per cent of its ferromanganese intake.

Just as the main downstream use of ferrochrome is stainless steel. ferromanganese .s beneficiated as carbon steel. As an alloying agent, ferromanganese is invaluable in imparting strength, toughness and abrasion-resistance to steel, with the world crude steel market consuming more than 90 per cent of manganese output. The metal is also used as an alloying agent to strengthen aluminium and is added to copper to form a wide range of manganese bronzes.