High Purity Electrolytic Manganese From Low-Grade Ore as a Substitute for Various Forms of Manganese Now being used in Metallurgical Industries

Abstract

India produces about 1 million tons of high-grade manganese ores every year and about the same quantity of low-grade ores is being dumped in the mining areas. Besides high-grade ores she has abundant resources of low-grade ores for which there is practically no market. Investigations have already been undertaken in this country under the Five Year Plan to utilize these low-grade ores by different methods of beneficiation and also by the production of high purity electrolytic manganese. The purpose of this article is to discuss in the light of the experiments carried out in U.S.A. that high purity electrolytic manganese from low-grade ores can be substituted for different forms of manganese specially ferro-manganese now being employed in metallurgical industries. The main disadvantage in using electrolytic manganese is its comparatively high cost of production. A substantial reduction in the price can be expected if the demand for electrolytic manganese increases with increasing use. The present price of electrolytic manganese is 31 cents per pound. It has been estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Mines that in a 40 ton per day electrolytic manganese plant, the total operating cost, exclusive of taxes, interest, ore, sales and plant insurance, comes to about 7-2 cents per pound.