Chromium Chromium is a very hard, brittle, gray metal, which is sometimes referred to as Siberian red lead. It does not rust easily and becomes shiny and bright when it is polished. The shiny trim on our automobile bumpers and door handles is usually electroplated chromium. Most chromium comes from something called chromite which is a mixture of chromium , iron, and oxygen. Chromite is a common rather ordinary black mineral that no one really noticed until more recent times. Nearly all the world's supply of chromite comes from Zimbabwe, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Cuba, and the Philippines. The United States imports almost all its chr