Chromium is a hard, shiny metal that is often used to plate other metals because it resists corrosion.
Automobile bumpers and trim are often said to be made of chrome, which is basically another word for chromium. Chromium is most used today in the manufacture of steel, including stainless steel. Chromium added to steel makes it much stronger.
Chromium is never found alone in nature. Most of it comes from a black mineral called chromite, which contains chrome and other metals. The richest deposits of chrome in the world are in South Africa, which accounts for more than a quarter of the 4 million tons produced each year.
But the European nation of Albania, slightly larger than the state of Maryland, now produces more than 8 percent of the worlds chrome!
