What is UG2 ore?

The Merensky Reef is a layer of igneous rock in the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) in the North West, Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa which together with an underlying layer, the Upper Group 2 Reef (UG2), contains most of the world’s known reserves of platinum group metals (PGMs) or platinum …

How are chromite layers formed?

Abstract. Chromitite layers are common in large mafic layered intrusions. A widely accepted hypothesis holds that the chromitites formed as a consequence of injection and mixing of a chemically relatively primitive magma into a chamber occupied by more evolved magma.

What is UG2 reef?

The Upper Group 2 (UG2) chromitite reef is a shallow-dipping stratiform tabular orebody in the South African Bushveld Complex, which strikes for hundreds of kilometres. Mining is extensive, with depths ranging from close-to-surface to 2 500 m. Pillars are widely used to support the open stopes and bords.

What is chromite ore used for?

Chromite is used as a refractory in the production of steel, copper, glass and cement. Chromite occurs as a primary accessory mineral in basic and ultrabasic igneous rocks.

What are the main rock forming minerals that are found in the Merensky Reef?

The rock-forming minerals of the Merensky Reef comprise approximately equal amounts of dark iron-magnesium silicate minerals and lighter calcium-aluminium-sodium silicate minerals (called a feldspathic pyroxenite) under- and overlain by thin (5 to 15 mm) often discontinuous layers of chrornite concentrations, see …

What kind of ore deposit is the Bushveld Complex?

In the minerals sector of world economics, the Bushveld Complex in South Africa (Figure 1) is renowned for its overwhelming deposits of platinum group elements (PGE) and chromium (over 80% of the world’s deposits of each according to Crowson (1)).

Is chrome and chromite the same?

As nouns the difference between chromite and chrome is that chromite is (mineral) a dark brown mineral species with the formula fecr2o4 while chrome is chromium, when used to plate other metals.

How was the Bushveld Complex formed?

Vast quantities of molten rock from Earth’s mantle were brought to the surface through long vertical cracks in Earth’s crust—huge arcuate differentiated lopolithic intrusions—creating the geological intrusion known as the Bushveld Igneous Complex. Large portions of the central area are covered by younger rocks.