Manganese Ore

MANGANESE 0RE

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.
Just as the main downstream use of ferrochrome is stainless steel. ferromanganese is 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.
Manganese dioxide is a powerful oxidising agent with a variety of chemical applications, including use in dry cell batteries and in acid leaching to recover uranium and zinc from their ores.
Considerable value added potential exists in the production of manganese chemicals. These are used principally in making fungicides for agricultural use.
Against a background of rationalised manganese production world-wide, a shortage of high grade manganese ore in international markets and still high demand for carbon steels which has seen price gains for both manganese ores and alloys.