A Brief History of Chromite Smelting • Chromite is chemically inert, and has a very high melting point (2040°C), making it very useful for use in refractories • World resources are greater than 12 billion tons of shipping-grade chromite, sufficient to meet conceivable demand for centuries Chromite Smelting –highly simplified FeO.Cr2O3 + 4C fi Fe + 2Cr + 4CO ~1700°C