MANGANESE
BY D. F. HEWETT
USES OF MANGANESE
Alloys of manganese are essential in the manufacture of steel by the
open-hearth and the Bessemer processes, which produce 99 per cent.
of the total output of the United States. In this country, about 14
pounds of metallic manganese as alloys, equivalent to about 40 pounds
of high-grade ore, is used in making a ton of average steel. Two alloys
are in common use: ferromanganese and spiegeleisen. Ferromanganese,
with 70 to 80 per cent. manganese, is largely used in making
open-hearth steel carrying less than 0.30 per cent. carbon, whereas
spiegeleisen, with 20 to 32 per cent. manganese, is used in making
Bessemer steel carrying more than 0.30 per cent. carbon. The first
group of low-carbon steels is used in making structural shapes, sheets,
bars, wire, etc., and the second group of high-carbon steels is used in
making rails, forgings, etc.
In making 70 to 80 per cent. ferromanganese, so-called “high-grade”
ore with more than 35 per cent. manganese and less than 5 per cent.
iron and 15 per cent. silica is needed. In making 20 to 32 per cent.
spiegeleisen, so-called “low-grade” or ferruginous manganese ore with
10 to 35 per cent. manganese, 20 to 35 per cent. iron, and less than
20 per cent. silica is needed, although here and there spiegeleisen is
made by mixing high-grade manganese ore with iron ore.
Several other alloys such as silico-manganese, ferro-silicon,
and ferro-carbon-titanium may be used as partial substitutes for
ferromanganese, but although they may be capable of wider use under
stress, they are electric-furnace products and under normal conditions
their cost is prohibitive.
Very pure manganese oxide is used in making the common dry battery,
the production of which has greatly increased with the wide use of
the internal-combustion engine. About 25,000 tons is used annually in
the United States for this purpose. The manganese oxide thus used is
not consumed, but becomes exhausted through the loss of oxygen. Under
stress of high prices, the oxide may be regenerated by treatment or by
mixture with new refined material.
Small quantities of manganese ore are used in making many chemical
products and pigments.
CHANGES IN PRACTICE
Any consideration of the need for manganese ore and ferromanganese
and of dependence upon foreign sources of supply should take account
of the degree to which low-grade ore and spiegeleisen may be used as
substitutes for high-grade ore and ferromanganese. Thus, although
both Germany and the United States have only insignificant resources
of high-grade ore, both possess unusually large reserves of low-grade
ore. Under recent conditions in the United States the percentage of
total manganese used as spiegeleisen increased in three years from 10
to about 18 per cent. Competent authorities have estimated that this
substitution may be further increased to nearly 70 per cent. with
slight modifications in practice and modest addition of equipment.
Some competent engineers further contend that by other modifications
of practice a large part of the manganese now needed as alloys may be
eliminated by the addition of low-grade manganese ore during early
stages of the smelting and refining process.
GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION
Although concentrated masses such as are useful in the arts are rather
uncommon, manganese is widespread throughout the earth; it forms a part
of about 100 minerals and most of the common rocks, igneous as well as
sedimentary, contain 0.1 to 2 per cent.
Present requirements as to grade are such that manganese ores are
largely oxides. The carbonate, rhodochrosite, contains enough manganese
to permit its use in making 80 per cent. ferromanganese, but only in
a few places are the masses large enough to be the basis of extensive
mining. The common silicate contains 43 per cent. manganese, but the
silica content is so high (23 per cent.) that it can not be used alone
in making the ordinary alloys.
The common oxides of manganese are deposited under many conditions
which are found near the surface of the earth. Large masses of oxides
were deposited in shallow marine waters, in shallow fresh-water basins
and under many other conditions in the relatively thin mantle of
weathered rock that is found over the entire world. Although most of
these large masses were formed in the surface zone where the underlying
unweathered rocks are unusually rich in manganese, some large masses
of oxides accumulate under peculiarly favorable conditions by the
concentration of small quantities of manganese disseminated through the
common rocks.
For purposes of geologic study, deposits of manganese oxides may be
considered in two groups, as follows: (1) those derived from more or
less localized masses of carbonate or silicate materials, generally
with more than 5 per cent. manganese, that seem to have no relation to
the surface of the earth; and (2) those originally deposited near the
surface as localized bodies of oxides.
Under the first group are zones of carbonate or silicate rocks in
contact with intrusive igneous rocks, such as are found in Brazil and
India. These zones contain manganiferous carbonates (mixed with iron,
lime, and magnesia); and silicates (spessartite or manganese garnet and
piedmontite or manganese epidote and possibly rhodonite, or manganese
pyroxene). By the weathering of such rocks, large bodies of high-grade
oxides have been formed.
Manganese also occurs in fissure veins or the adjacent wall rocks in
regions that have been intruded by igneous rocks. The veins commonly
contain rhodochrosite, manganiferous siderite, or rhodonite, associated
with quartz and metallic sulphide minerals, including alabandite, the
sulphide of manganese. Such veins are known in Philipsburg and Butte,
Mont.; Silverton, Colo., and elsewhere. In such regions if the wall
rocks adjacent to fissures are limestone or dolomite, they may be
extensively replaced by manganiferous siderite or other carbonates
which on weathering yield large bodies of manganese oxides, locally
mixed with iron oxides. Such bodies are known at Leadville, Colo.
The manganese existing in sediments, notably clayey, but in part
carbonate, may migrate locally after the sediments are slightly buried
and form zones of manganiferous carbonate and silicate concretions
parallel to the bedding. Where, as in the Batesville district,
Arkansas, these zones are exposed by erosion, the manganese is further
concentrated as masses of oxides in residual clay.
Metamorphic rocks, such as slates and schists, here and there, as in
Spain, Newfoundland, California, and Washington, contain extensive
lenses of rhodonite or other silicate with or without rhodochrosite,
roughly parallel to the bedding. The origin of these lenses, which are
generally rather remote from igneous intrusions, is obscure. Some are
considered to be materials laid down during sedimentation, others are
thought to represent concentrations effected during metamorphism when
the sediments were deeply buried.
In the second group mentioned above (manganese deposits first
concentrated near the surface as oxides) are included extensive
deposits of oxides interbedded with marine sediments, as in the
Caucasus region, Russia. Others interbedded with volcanic material,
tuffs and flows, are known in the Mediterranean region and in Chile. In
India important beds of oxides are interbedded with quartzite and slate.
Many deposits of oxides have recently formed and are probably now
forming in bogs in many regions, notably New Brunswick, Canada. They
are not important as sources of production.
Although no simple relation seems to govern the distribution of
manganese in unweathered rock, there is reason for believing that the
accumulation of manganese oxides in the weathered mantle is favored by
climates that cause unusually complete or deep rock decay. Although
a few manganese oxide deposits are found within the belts of recent
glaciation, and some have no relation to weathering, most of the
important deposits occur in areas now or recently favored with warm,
humid climates, and there is reason for suspecting that such areas will
yield other important deposits.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
=North America.=--In the United States, the occurrence of manganese
ore can be most clearly described by grouping the districts according
to grade or ore: (1) high grade, containing 35 per cent. or more of
manganese, which is used ordinarily for making the high-grade alloy,
ferromanganese, and (2) low-grade, ferruginous manganese ore, used
ordinarily for the low-grade ferro-alloy, spiegeleisen. The country is
deficient in natural supplies of the former, but has abundant resources
of the latter, which under the stress of necessity could be largely
substituted for the high-grade ore, which is now mainly imported.
The following districts in the United States yield high-grade ore:
At Philipsburg, Mont., are bodies of manganese carbonate that replace
Cambrian limestone near veins and igneous contacts. These are weathered
to oxides to a depth of about 200 feet below the surface. At Butte,
Mont., veins in granite contain manganese carbonate and silicate,
locally weathered to oxides.
In the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and in similar valleys in
Tennessee and Georgia, the residual clays from certain Cambrian
limestones and Silurian shale and sandstone yield bodies of manganese
oxides to depths that range from 200 to 250 feet below the surface.
Many small deposits also occur in Arkansas, Arizona, California,
Nevada, and Utah.
The total production of the United States from 1838 to 1918 was 893,734
tons, and the maximum was 305,869 tons in 1918.
Among the chief districts yielding the lower grade of ore (10 to 35
per cent. manganese) the most conspicuous is the Cuyuna district in
Minnesota, where beds of iron-manganese carbonate of pre-Cambrian age
are weathered to oxides to depths of 250 to 500 feet below the surface
and contain ore bodies carrying 7 to 20 per cent. manganese, and 25 to
50 per cent. iron. The single deposits range from 50,000 to 7,500,000
tons each. Since the first shipments in 1913, the production through
1918 has been 1,666,677 tons of ore carrying more than 5 per cent.
manganese.
Large deposits of low-grade manganese ore also occur in the Leadville
district in Colorado, where irregular bodies of iron-manganese
carbonate have replaced magnesian limestone of Carboniferous age and
are weathered to oxides to depths as great as 850 feet. From 1885 to
1918, the total production was 3,202,678 tons of material, most of
which contained from 15 to 30 per cent. manganese.
Other deposits of ferruginous manganese ore have been exploited in
Eagle County, Colorado; the Pioche district, Nevada; Silver City
district, New Mexico; and in Arkansas, Georgia, and Virginia.
In _Canada_, large deposits of siliceous manganese ores occur in
Newfoundland, and several small deposits in New Brunswick, Alberta, and
British Columbia.
In _Costa Rica_, manganese occurs in four districts near Playa Real,
Nicoya Peninsula, in the form of oxides that seem to be interlayered
with sedimentary rocks. The most productive deposits are owned by
citizens of United States and of Cuba; others are owned entirely by
Cubans. They were first exploited in 1916, and to the end of 1918 had
exported 18,000 tons to United States.
In _Cuba_, manganese is mined near Santiago and Bueycito, in the
province of Oriente. Near Santiago, manganese oxides occur as
lenticular or irregular bodies in tuff, clay, and limestone. Other
deposits are reported in Santa Clara and Pinal del Rio provinces.
The mines that have been the source of more than 90 per cent. of the
exports are owned jointly by citizens of Cuba and of the United States,
and the remaining mines by Cubans.
From 1888 to 1910, 266,621 tons were exported. In 1915, after four
years of idleness, the mines were reopened, and imports into the United
States from 1915 to 1918, inclusive, were 163,189 tons.[52]
[52] Production data, long tons, unless otherwise specified.
In _Mexico_, manganese ores are found four miles north of Chihuahua
City and south of Palomas, in the State of Chihuahua. It is assumed
that the deposits are owned by native Mexicans. Manganese also occurs
near Conception Bay, Lower California, where the mines are owned by
native Mexicans but are under lease to Americans. From both of these
districts, 1,500 tons were produced and exported to the United States
in 1917.
In the Republic of _Panama_, near Nombre de Dios and Madinga, there are
irregular lenses of manganese oxides in decomposed sedimentary beds.
Seven groups of deposits were exploited near Nombre de Dios. Five of
them were exploited by Americans, one by native owners, and one by
French. The Nombre de Dios deposits yielded 50,000 tons of ore from
1871 to 1902, largely during the last six years. The Madinga deposits
were opened in 1916 and during 1916 and 1917 exported 11,000 tons to
the United States.
=South America.=--The largest deposits of manganese ore in South
America are in _Brazil_, and especially in the important mining state
of Minas Geraes.
In the Lafayette district in this state, manganese oxides occur in
wide lenticular bodies, that seem to have no definite arrangement
or association, except that most of them are bounded by schist
or gneiss. The deposits lie in a complex of granite, gneiss, and
crystalline schists; and the manganese oxides are probably derived from
manganese-bearing carbonate and silicate minerals. The most productive
area, known as the Morro da Mina, 2,500 feet long by 1,000 feet wide,
contains four distinct bodies that range from 320 to 1,300 feet long
and from 48 to 320 feet wide. Here manganese oxides persist 410 feet
below the surface.
The area has yielded about 1,000,000 tons of ore and the reserves are
probably between 7,000,000 and 10,000,000 tons.
In the same State of Minas Geraes, in the Miguel Burnier and Ouro
Prieto districts, manganese oxides are interlayered with ferruginous
sedimentary rocks of pre-Cambrian age.
In the State of Bahia, the Nazareth district contains bodies of
manganese oxide in a thick surface zone of highly weathered schistose
rocks. The oxides are probably derived from lenses of manganese garnet
in schist. The largest deposit yielded 70,000 tons of ore. Manganese
deposits are also reported near Bom Fim, in the same state.
Other deposits of manganese ore in Brazil are reported in the states of
Maranhao and Matto Grosso.
The known manganese deposits of Minas Geraes lie within an area about
30 miles square, the center of which is about 300 miles north of
Rio Janeiro. The ore is readily mined from open cuts, but existing
transportation and loading facilities practically limit the annual
exports to 550,000 tons.
Most of the important deposits in the Lafayette-Miguel Burnier and Ouro
Prieto districts are owned by resident Brazilians. In 1915 a German
company had worked a part of the Morro da Mina deposit for six or
seven years and produced a total of 200,000 tons of ore. During 1915 a
Belgian company was operating the Cocuruto mine near Ouro Prieto and
was shipping 2,000 tons monthly. The largest deposit of the Nazareth
district is owned by an American and the undeveloped deposits near
Turyassu are owned by Norwegians.
From the beginning of the industry in 1894 to 1918, 4,660,000 tons of
manganese ore were exported from Brazil. From 1900 to 1913, the annual
exports ranged from 99,000 to 250,000 tons, but with the elimination of
Russian sources in 1914, exports rose to 503,130 tons in 1916, 532,855
tons in 1917, and 393,388 tons in 1918. In October, 1917, the export
tax on manganese ore was advanced from $0.85 to $3.00 per metric ton.
Even before the war a large part of the Brazilian exports went to the
United States. The destination of the 1913 exports was as follows:
United States, 60 per cent.; Germany, 18 per cent.; Great Britain, 16
per cent.; France, 6 per cent.
In _Chile_, manganese ores occur at Corral Quemada, and nearby
districts in the State of Coquimbo. In these districts, beds of
manganese oxides are interlayered with sandstone, shale, and volcanic
flows. Manganese is also found in the Carrizal district in the State
of Atacama, where beds of manganese oxides are interbanded with shale
and limestone. From 1885, when explorations were begun, to 1905, the
exports of manganese ores from Chilean ports amounted to 549,716 tons,
the maximum exports for one year being 50,871 tons, in 1892.
In _Uruguay_, deposits of ferruginous manganese ore, reported to
contain 80,500,000 tons, occur at Zapucay, in the Department of Rivera.
=Europe.=--In the former empire of _Austria-Hungary_, the principal
manganese district is near Dorna Vatra, in Bukowina. Here there are
lenses of manganese carbonate and silicate in schists that have
weathered to oxides near the surface. The deposits are owned by
the Bukowina Greek Church. The average annual production from 1906
to 1912 was 13,600 tons. Other deposits are reported in Bohemia,
Istria, Styria, Hungary and Bosnia. Since 1901, the production of
Austria-Hungary has ranged from 18,000 to 25,000 tons annually.
In _Belgium_, near Chevron, in the Province of Liège, ferruginous
manganese oxides have formed by the weathering of manganese and iron
carbonates. Since 1901, the annual production in peace times has ranged
from 2,000 to 15,000 tons.
In _France_, manganese occurs chiefly near Romaneche, in the Department
of Saone and Loire, where several bodies of manganese oxides lie in a
fault between sedimentary rocks and granite. The deposit has been known
since 1823, and the production in 1901 was 9,500 tons. Other French
deposits have been explored in the Departments of Hautes-Pyrenees,
L’Ariege, L’Allier, L’Ande, and La Nievre. The annual production rather
steadily declined from 22,000 tons in 1901 to 6,000 tons in 1913. The
ownership of the French manganese deposits seems to be largely French,
possibly aided by some English capital.
In _Germany_, manganese ore of the better type, containing over 30 per
cent. of the metal, occurs in Sachsen-Gotha, Central Germany, in small
veins of manganese and iron carbonates weathered near the surface to
oxides. A similar grade of manganese ore occurs in small quantities at
Hessen and Waldeck, in Rhenish Prussia.
Manganiferous iron ore, containing from 12 to 30 per cent. of
manganese, occurs in Hessen-Nassau, Rhenish Prussia, where manganese
and iron oxides form irregular flat lenses imbedded in clays derived
from the weathering of underlying Devonian limestone. During the period
1907 to 1911, nine deposits yielded 262,000 to 283,000 tons annually.
Manganiferous iron ore (containing less than 12 per cent. manganese)
is found at Siegerland and at Nassau, Rhenish Prussia. The veins are
large and contain manganiferous siderite; they cut Devonian sediments.
These deposits are largely owned by the principal iron works of Rhenish
Prussia. During the period 1907 to 1911, the annual production ranged
from 2,200,000 to 2,600,000 tons.
In _Great Britain_, the principal deposits are in North Wales. Veins
of manganese carbonate and silicate, as well as interlayered lenses,
are found. The material contains 20 to 36 per cent. manganese. Other
deposits are recorded in Devonshire, Cornwall, and Shropshire. The
maximum production of Great Britain of about 23,000 tons was attained
in 1906, when two mines in North Wales yielded 19,300 tons.
Manganese occurs in _Greece_, in the western end of the island of
Melos, where nodules and masses of manganese oxides are disseminated
through beds of tuffs of Pliocene age. The maximum production of 15,000
tons was recorded in 1902. The output has since steadily declined to
550 tons in 1913. Manganese also occurs on the peninsula of Kassandra,
which was formerly in European Turkey. A vein explored mainly for
argentiferous galena yields manganese oxides from the surface zone.
The maximum production of 52,000 tons was attained in 1902, steadily
declining thereafter to 12,000 tons in 1910.
In _Italy_ there is manganese in Tuscany, where irregular bodies of
manganese and iron oxides occur in Triassic limestones. Other deposits
in Liguria and Sardinia have recently yielded a little ore. Of the
maximum Italian production of 18,147 metric tons (18 to 45 per cent.
manganese) in 1916, 14,072 metric tons was derived from the Tuscany
deposits in Tuscany. Normally the annual production has ranged from
1,600 to 4,700 tons.
In _Portugal_ there is manganese in Alemtejo. The deposits, reported to
be lenses and veins in Silurian quartzites, are owned by a Portuguese
company.
_Russia_ contains the most important manganese deposits in Europe, if
not in the world. The principal mining district is near Chiaturi, in
the Kutais Government, on the south side of the Caucasus Mountains,
in southern Russia. Layers of oolitic grains of manganese oxides
are interbedded with horizontal sandstone and shale of Lower Eocene
age. Within a zone that ranges in thickness from 4.5 to 7.5 feet and
averages about 6.5 feet, seven distinct layers of very pure manganese
oxide aggregate about 40 inches in thickness, and the remainder is
low-grade material and sand. It is estimated that an area of 120 to
143 square kilometers was originally underlain by the bed of oxides,
but that about half has been removed by erosion. Estimates of reserves
range from 23,000,000 tons to several hundred million tons.
The mines are operated in a crude, inefficient manner and scarcely
two-thirds of the ore is recovered. The number of actual producers
ranged from 183 in 1902, to 376 in 1906, but declined to 96 during
the political troubles in 1908. The ore is sorted by hand and the
low-grade material is washed in crude plants. From 20 to 25 per cent.
of the exported material has been concentrated by washing.
In 1902 there were 5,000 concessions, of which 3,750 were owned by 14
persons, each with 25 to 500 concessions; the remainder belonged to 300
peasants and small merchants. By 1912 a producers’ association had been
formed to permit the owners to deal collectively with the exporters.
Large investments had also been made by German capitalists in mines
as well as in undeveloped territory. The Gelsenkirchen Gesellschaft,
a German firm, had been formed partly for the purpose of mining but
largely to purchase and export ore to Germany. In 1912, this firm,
although it produced only a little ore, exported nearly one-third of
the total. German groups also established necessary financial agencies
to facilitate export of ore as well as to make loans to mine operators.
In 1913, of 16 exporting firms, only 3 were Russian.
The output of the mines of the Chiaturi district is hauled to Chiaturi
(1.3 to 3.3 miles), loaded on narrow-gauge cars for transport to
Sharopan (25 miles), and then reloaded on cars for shipment to Poti
or Batum (107 miles), the ports of export. Large stocks ranging
from 1,030,000 tons in 1912, to 1,525,000 tons in 1908, are kept at
Chiaturi, Poti and Batum. From 1910 to 1912, the distribution of
exports ranged as follows: Holland (for Germany), 30 to 43 per cent.;
England, 22 to 23 per cent.; Belgium (largely for Germany), 15 to 21
per cent.; Germany (direct), 5 per cent.; France, 4 to 6 per cent.;
United States, 4 to 10 per cent.; Austria, 4 to 10 per cent. About
1913, an export tax equal to 40 cents per long ton was levied by the
Russian government.
It is estimated that from 1848 to 1914, inclusive, this deposit yielded
about 11,000,000 tons of washed ore of marketable grade. The maximum
production of 1,300,000 tons was attained in 1913.
Another important manganese mining region is the Nicopol district, in
the Province of Ekaterinoslav, north of the Black Sea. In this district
a bed of manganese oxides lies between clays and sandstone of Oligocene
age. This bed is 1 to 5 feet thick, averaging nearly 3 feet. It is
estimated to extend over an area of 20 square kilometers (7.5 square
miles) and to contain 7,400,000 tons of manganese ore. The ore is mined
and washed in a crude way to free it from the attached clay.
The deposits in this district are probably owned largely by Russians,
although French capital is interested in one company and German capital
in another. During the period 1901 to 1910, between 80 and 90 per cent.
of the production was consumed in southern Russia and the remainder was
exported. From 1886, when the deposits were first exploited, the output
rose rather steadily to the maximum of 271,000 tons in 1907, then
declined to 173,000 tons in 1910. The total production of the district
is about 1,800,000 tons.
Manganese deposits are also known in the Province of Podolien and
Terek, and in the governments of Tiflis, Erwin, Elisabetpol, and Perm.
The principal manganese deposits of _Spain_ are on the south slope of
Sierra Morena, in the Province of Huelva. Vertical lenticular bodies
of manganese carbonate and silicate with a little pyrite, garnet,
and mica occur interlayered with slate of Paleozoic age. About one
hundred bodies are known, many being 500 feet long and 100 feet wide,
whereas the largest is 3,300 feet long and 330 feet wide. The manganese
minerals are weathered to oxides to an average depth of 65 feet and a
maximum depth of 250 feet. From 1881 to 1905, when the oxide ores were
nearly exhausted, nearly 700,000 tons had been shipped. From 1906 to
1910 about 125,000 tons of mixed carbonate and silicate was produced.
Manganese is also found in the Covadonga district, Province of Oviedo,
where large boulders of manganese oxide are found in clay resulting
from the weathering of underlying limestone. These deposits yielded
3,800 tons in 1915. Other productive deposits occur in the provinces of
Seville and Teruel. Deposits are also known in the provinces of Ciudad
Real, Murcia, and Almeria.
In _Sweden_, there are manganese ores north of Philipstad, in Wermland,
where tabular bodies of manganese oxides are interlayered with dolomite
and magnetite. These deposits contributed 7,607 tons out of a total of
7,733 tons in 1915, which was the maximum recorded production of Sweden.
=Asia.=--In _India_, on the east coast in the Vizagapatam and Ganjam
districts, Madras, is a unique group of rocks known as the Kodurite
series, containing manganese garnet, manganese pyroxene, potash
feldspar, apatite, and quartz. These rocks, supposed to be of igneous
origin, have been deeply weathered and the manganese concentrated as
oxides in the surface zone. The manganese ore bodies have been explored
only to 100 feet in depth, but it is expected that they will extend to
500 feet. The largest ore body explored at the Garbham mine is 1,600
feet long and 100 feet wide, and, from 1896 to 1913, yielded 736,192
tons of ore. The Kodur deposit yielded 370,382 tons of ore from 1892 to
1913. Production began in 1892, reached a maximum of 111,501 tons in
1906, and slowly declined to 44,127 tons in 1913.
Manganese also occurs in the Balaghat, Bhandara, Chindwara, and Nagpur
districts in the central provinces; Narukot and Panch Mahals districts,
Bombay; Jhabua district, central India; and the Gangpur district in
Bihar and Orissa. These districts form a belt that extends from Baroda,
on the west coast, across northern India nearly to Calcutta on the
east, a distance of 700 miles. In these districts, beds of manganese
oxides with manganese garnet and rhodonite form a rock type known as
gondite, which is interlayered with quartzite and mica schist. These
rocks are considered to be sediments of the Dharwar group (Archean).
The manganese oxides may have been laid down as sediments, or may
represent the weathering of the silicates. The ore bodies are lenses
and layers. The largest single deposit, Balaghat, has the form of a
shallow trough, is 1³⁄₄ miles long and 45 to 50 feet thick, and yielded
from 1901 to 1913, 725,248 tons of ore. In 1913, thirteen distinct
deposits had yielded more than 100,000 tons each, the range being from
101,721 to 725,248 tons.
From 1901, when the deposits of this type were first exploited, the
rate of production rose steadily to the maximum of 697,035 tons in
1913. During 1907, fifty-two separate deposits contributed 598,437 tons.
Where rocks of Dharwar age (Archean), such as mica schists, that do
not seem to contain the manganese-bearing Gondite series, are deeply
weathered, manganese and manganiferous iron oxides form irregular but
locally extensive deposits on the crests of hills. These deposits are
underlain by barren clays that represent the residue of the underlying
rocks. The largest deposit yielded 160,000 tons of ore in three years,
1906 to 1908, but is probably almost exhausted. The principal deposits
of this class are in the Sandur Hills district, Madras; the Shimoga
district, Mysore; and the Belgaum district, in Bombay; which lie within
an area less than 100 miles in diameter in southwest India. From
1905, when deposits of this group were first explored, the production
increased to a maximum of 11,353 tons in 1909,then declined to 62,770
tons in 1913. The total yield of this group to the end of 1913 was only
765,401 tons.
As regards the commercial control of the manganese deposits, a law
recently passed forbids aliens to own more than a minor interest in
mineral deposits in India. Previous to this, during 1907, the latest
year for which complete data are available and in which 899,055 tons
was produced, the entire output was from mines owned by resident
English or natives, except for 21,500 tons produced by the Carnegie
Steel Co., of Pittsburgh, U. S. A.
The annual production of manganese ore in India rose steadily from
1892, when the first shipments were made, to 1907, when 899,055 tons
was shipped; and since then has ranged from 450,000 to 815,000 tons.
The total production, up to and including 1916, was 8,748,000 tons.
Indian ores are transported to the shipping ports by rail for distances
ranging from 56 miles for the Vizagapatam district to 783 miles for the
Chindwara district, with the result that freight charges are heavy.
The ports of export in order of tonnage handled are, Bombay, Mormugas,
Calcutta, and Vizagapatam. The destination of exports in 1913 was as
follows: United Kingdom, 36 per cent.; Belgium (largely to Germany), 26
per cent.; United States, 15 per cent.; France, 14 per cent.; Germany,
2 per cent.; others, 7 per cent.
In the _Japanese Empire_, in the islands of Mutsu, Echigo, Ugo, and
Nato, are irregular lenticular bodies of rather pure manganese oxides
that occur more or less parallel to the bedding of metamorphosed
Paleozoic sediments. Below water level, the oxides grade into rhodonite
and are probably derived from this mineral. The ore bodies are not
large, but many are known and they are the source of a small but
regular production. In the islands of Mutsu, Nogo, Hokkaido and Ugo
many irregular but locally large deposits of manganese oxides are
associated with highly altered volcanic tuffs and flows of Tertiary
age. Most of the deposits in Japan seem to be owned by natives in small
holdings. The maximum production of 18,076 tons is reported for 1913,
but since 1900 the range has usually been from 5,000 to 15,000 tons.
In the _Philippine Islands_, manganese occurs on the islands of Ilocos
Norte, Masbate, Bulacan, Pangasinan and Tarloc, largely as veinlets and
boulders of oxides in weathered igneous rock. On Ilocos Norte a maximum
production of 3,000 tons was attained in 1916.
=Africa.=--On the _Gold Coast of West Africa_ (a British colony), near
Dagwin, are several deposits of manganese, the largest being 400 feet
long and 70 feet wide. The concession is owned by a British exploration
company. The deposit was discovered in 1914; and from the beginning
of exploration in 1916 up to November 7, 1917, 28,465 tons had been
shipped to England.
In the _Belgian Congo_, there is manganese ore in the valley of the
Upper Fungwe River, and in southern Katanga. The deposits are too
remote from the ocean to justify exploration, but are reported to be
large. In the _Union of South Africa_ (British) several manganese
deposits are found along the sea coast, within 30 miles east and west
of Capetown. Of the seven known deposits the largest is estimated to
contain 15,000 tons. In _Egypt_, in the Sinai peninsula, are large
manganiferous iron deposits as well as small manganese deposits, but
none has been exploited. In _Tunis_, there are deposits reported to
contain 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 tons of manganiferous iron ore, and also
several manganese deposits which yielded 5,800 metric tons of manganese
ore in 1917.
Although the known deposits of manganese in Africa are few and
relatively unimportant, the continent offers an unusual prospect for
the discovery of deposits that will contribute largely to the world’s
supply. Inasmuch as the moist tropical climate of large areas favors
extraordinary rock decay and surface concentration of manganese oxides,
exploration will probably show the presence of many deposits, and where
bedrock geological conditions are favorable, large bodies may be found.
=Australasia.=--In _Australia_, there are deposits of manganese ore in
New South Wales, in Queensland, in South Australia, and in Victoria.
In _New Zealand_, deposits of manganese ore occur in the Thames
district, Auckland.
Deposits of manganese ore are known in _Borneo_, at Maruda Bay.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Annual output of manganese ore in chief
producing countries.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Percentage of manganese ore produced by chief
producing countries.]
It is reported that large deposits of high-grade ore have recently been
discovered in _Java_.
Some statistics of the production of manganese are shown graphically in
figures 5 and 6.
DEVELOPMENTS AND CHANGES IN GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION IN THE NEAR FUTURE
The known manganese resources of Russia, India, and Brazil are so
large and readily available for exploitation and marketing that there
is little prospect of their being displaced as the chief sources of
the world’s supply for many years. Since the war began, in 1914,
several important new districts have been discovered and brought to the
producing stage, notably the Gold Coast of West Africa, western Costa
Rica, and Java. Although the Javan deposits are reported to be large
and may become an important factor in the world’s trade, all that is
known concerning the other deposits does not hold out much hope that
they can compete with the established sources.
There appears to be a fair chance that the equatorial belt as well
as several other parts of the earth may yield additional important
manganese deposits.
The distribution of the manganese deposits of the world is shown in
Plate III.
POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL CONTROL
The table of production for 1913 on page 105 shows the part of the
total that each country contributed and the known extent of commercial
control.
In contrast with deposits of several other important minerals, most of
the manganese deposits throughout the world are owned by natives or
residents of the respective countries in which they are found.
German companies have acquired tracts in the Chiaturi and Nicopol
districts, Russia, and Queluz (Lafayette) district, Brazil. It appears
that although one of these companies produces a little ore, the
main purpose was to stabilize an unorganized industry by financial
assistance.
In India it is difficult to distinguish between those companies
composed of resident English and native Indians which were formed to
exploit mines for profit and those composed of absentee English who
desire to secure a supply of ore for English or other consumption.
There seems to be no English capital in Brazil or Russia.
One French company owned two shipping mines in India in 1907, but
there is no record of operations in 1913. French capital is interested
in several companies busy in the Nicopol district, Russia. A Belgian
company operates one mine in the Queluz district, Brazil.
[Illustration: PLATE III.--Geographical distribution of the principal
manganese deposits of the world. By D. F. Hewett.]
TABLE 24.--PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIAL CONTROL OF MANGANESE
-----------------+---------+-------+--------+-----------------------
| | Man- | Per |
| | ganese| cent. |
| |content|of total|
| | (per | pro- | Commercial control
Country |Long tons|cent.) |duction |(estimated per cent.)
-----------------+---------+-------+--------+-----------------------
North America | | | |
United States | 4,048| 40+ | 0.16 |United States, 100
| | | |
South America | | | |{Brazil, 80
Brazil | 120,368| 38-48 | 5.10 |{Belgium, 5
| | | |{Germany, 15
| | | |
Europe | | | |
Austria-Hungary| 34,986| ? | 1.5 |Austria-Hungary, 100
Bosnia- | | | |
Herzegovina | 5,709| ? | 0.2 |?
France | 7,610| 30+ | 0.3 |France, 100
Germany | 748| 30+ | 0.03 |Germany, 100
Italy | 1,596| 18-45 | 0.07 |Italy, 100
| | | |{Russia, 65
Russia |1,289,370| 41-48 | 55.4 |{Germany, 30
| | | |{France, 5
Spain | 21,254| 29+ | 0.9 |?
Sweden | 3,938| ? | 0.15 |?
United Kingdom | 5,393| 30+ | 0.21 |England, 100
| | | |
Asia | | | |
India | 815,047| 42-54 | 35.0 |{English and native, 90
| | | |{United States, 10
Japan | 18,516| ? | 0.8 |Japan, 100
| | | |
Oceania | | | |
Australia | 27| | |?
+---------+ | |
Total |2,328,110| | |
-----------------+---------+-------+--------+-----------------------
The Carnegie Steel Co., of Pittsburgh, Pa., U. S. A., owns and works
several deposits in India. Although Americans own deposits in the
Nazareth district, Brazil, in Panama, and Costa Rica, and some of those
of Cuba, there is no record of American ownership of any of the most
important deposits of Brazil, nor of any in Russia.
From 1902 to 1914, about half the ferromanganese used in the United
States was made in this country from foreign ore and half was imported
from England, where it was made from imported ore. This tendency arises
out of the limitations of blast-furnace smelting of the alloy and
the difference between the cost of labor in the United States and in
England, but does not represent definite control, for ferromanganese
may be made in any modern blast furnace used to make pig iron. In order
to smelt with maximum efficiency in making ferromanganese, however, a
blast furnace should run continuously for long periods, and therefore
make 20,000 to 35,000 tons of alloy annually. Although it is possible
to pass without interruption from making ferromanganese to spiegeleisen
and then to pig iron, the change causes losses. Small steel works in
the United States therefore find it more advantageous to purchase
imported ferromanganese than to make what they need.
POSITION OF THE IMPORTANT NATIONS WITH REGARD TO MANGANESE SUPPLIES
=United States.=--Although from 1885 to 1890, deposits in the United
States supplied half or more of the needed high-grade manganese ore,
from 1890 to 1916 the domestic production rather steadily declined to
a negligible minimum, while imports of foreign ore and ferromanganese
steadily rose in accord with the rate of total steel production. On
the other hand, during the period ending about 1908, when the rate of
manufacture of steel by the Bessemer process (in which spiegeleisen
is largely used) exceeded that by the open-hearth process, the annual
domestic contribution of spiegeleisen largely made from domestic
ores greatly exceeded the imports. In advance, therefore, of the
exploitation of the large deposits of low-grade ores of Minnesota,
which have been the source of most of the production since 1916,
the United States demonstrated independence of foreign supplies of
low-grade ore and alloys.
The experience and information gained during the war, largely
during 1918, show conclusively, first, with respect to metallurgy,
that 20 to 30 per cent. spiegeleisen, as well as 60 to 70 per
cent. ferromanganese, instead of 80 per cent., may be used to
make satisfactory grades of open-hearth steel without appreciably
sacrificing rate of production or quality of product; and second, with
respect to ore production, that known domestic deposits can supply for
at least five and probably ten or more years, much more low-grade ore
than is needed to make spiegeleisen, and for at least five years and
possibly ten years, about one-third the high-grade ore needed for the
manufacture of alloy with 60 to 80 per cent. manganese. The reader
should note, however, that capacity of mines to meet demand is in large
measure determined by the prices offered for the product, which during
1918 were about five times those prevailing before the war. Beyond
doubt, at pre-war prices, the United States can not supply more than
several per cent. of the high-grade ore needed to make ferromanganese.
Citizens of the United States have not shown great interest in
purchasing foreign deposits of manganese ore. With Cubans, they have
controlled the mines yielding a large part of the Cuban output, and
about 1907 one company, the Carnegie Steel Co., purchased several
deposits in India. That company, however, seems to purchase ore, in
addition to the output of its mines. Not until 1917 did Americans enter
the Brazilian fields; then the largest deposits of the relatively
unimportant Bahia district were purchased by a Philadelphia group.
=England.=--Before the war, England received about 50 per cent.
of her manganese ore from India, 40 per cent. from Russia, 3 per
cent. from Brazil, and small quantities from Spain and Portuguese
India. Some low-grade ore also came from Spain, Algeria, and Greece.
Domestic production was scarcely 1 per cent. of imports. Exports of
ferromanganese, largely to the United States, however, have been
equivalent to 35 to 45 per cent. of the total imports of ore. Two
effects of the war were to eliminate Russia as a source of ore, the
deficit being made up from India, and greatly to curtail exports of
ferromanganese. In contrast with the United States and Germany, Great
Britain does not seem to contain deposits of low-grade ores capable of
supplementing the needs of high-grade ore.
England controls fully 90 per cent. of the Indian output, probably
through ownership by resident English and native Indians. On the
other hand, England seems to have no control, direct or indirect, of
the output of Brazil, Russia, or of other important contributions to
supplies.
=France.=--Of the needed manganese ore, France imports from 35 to 45
per cent. from India, 40 to 55 per cent. from Russia, about 10 per
cent. from Spain, and several per cent. from Brazil, and produces about
2 per cent. The domestic material, however, contains 30 per cent. or
less manganese. In addition, France imports, as well as exports, a
little ferromanganese from time to time.
So far as available data indicate, the French have made practically
no foreign investments in manganese deposits, except in the Nicopol
district, Russia. A company with a French name mined about 1,300 tons
in India in 1907, out of a total of 899,055 long tons.
=Germany.=--Germany’s position with respect to manganese is very
similar to that of the United States. For four years prior to 1914,
Germany imported 48 to 68 per cent. of the total receipts from Russia,
25 to 35 from India, 3 to 7 from Brazil, and small quantities from
Spain, Greece, and Sweden. Domestic production of ore with more than
30 per cent. manganese is negligible. Germany probably exports small
quantities of ferromanganese to Sweden and other European countries,
and from time to time has exported alloy to the United States.
Like the United States, however, Germany possesses extensive deposits
of ferruginous manganese ore with 12 to 30 per cent. manganese; and
from 1908 to 1913, produced 260,000 to 330,000 metric tons of such
material, as well as 2,300,000 to 3,000,000 tons with 5 to 7 per cent.
manganese. There can be little doubt that although Germany, through
accumulated stocks of manganese ore and seizures in Belgium, possessed
in 1914 at least two years’ supply, she was able to maintain a fairly
constant rate of steel production for four years by adapting processes
to economize high-grade ore and use low-grade.
Germans appear to have purchased manganese deposits in Russia and
Brazil only, and these have yielded only a small part of the annual
imports. In the Chiaturi district of Russia, however, where most of
the deposits are owned by natives, a German company, Gelsenkirchen
Gesellschaft, reported to be a subsidiary of the Krupp company, was
established about 1910, to purchase property as well as trade with and
offer financial assistance to the producers. It is reported that this
company alone exported about one-third of the output of the district.
Germans are reported to own a part of one of several companies
operating in the Nicopol district, Russia.
SUMMARY
A review of the manganese ore industry, including features of the
deposits, their geographic distribution and ownership, indicates
several definite conclusions:
1. The surface outcrops of most manganese deposits give reliable
information concerning the size and grade of the deposits, and the most
desirable ore occurs in a surface zone scarcely 100 feet deep.
2. Except in Russia and Spain, the most productive mines are open-cuts,
and mining is quickly and easily accomplished at minimum expense.
Extensive operations in advance of production are rarely necessary.
3. The countries that possess the largest and richest deposits have an
abundant and cheap labor supply.
4. The productive capacity of the known deposits so much exceeds the
world’s demand for ore for steel making, that if any single source is
temporarily eliminated, the demand can be wholly met by the remaining
sources at prices that are only slightly higher than those previously
prevailing.
5. The value of the material at the sources of production is relatively
low among raw minerals, and ranges from one-third to one-eighth of the
selling price at the points of consumption. It is evident that the cost
of transportation represents a large part of the final price.
6. The working of most deposits yields so little profit, and therefore
is so hazardous, that only a few foreigners own deposits in the chief
producing countries.
7. The only case of commercial control, that of the Chiaturi district,
Russia, by Germans, who offer the natural market, seems to have been
established to counteract local political disorders rather than to
eliminate competitive consumers.
8. No nation that contributes largely to the world’s steel production,
except Russia, possesses domestic deposits of manganese ore sufficient
to meet its needs, and all must import ore from rather remote sources.
The United States and Germany, however, possess domestic deposits of
ferruginous manganese ore that under great stress would probably permit
independence of foreign sources.