Mangan
Mn • Atomic Number 25
Manganese
Manganese is a silvery-white, hard, very brittle transition metal. Its physical and chemical properties are similar to those of iron, but it is harder and more brittle. The element is of great biological importance. In plants, manganese plays a role in oxygen production in photosynthetic bacteria, algae, and plants.
Manganese is characterized by a wide variety of oxidation states.
It is a key raw material for the steel industry and is becoming increasingly important in lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.
Manganese occurs naturally mainly as pyrolusite and is mined in large quantities.
The most important producing countries are South Africa, Gabon, and Australia.
The most significant player is South32 from Australia.
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History
The name is derived from the Latin term for brownstone, “magnesia nigra,” and thus shares with the element magnesium the geographical reference to the district of Magnesia in the eastern Greek region of Thessaly, where deposits of minerals of both elements have been known since ancient times.
Manganese dioxide, also known as brownstone, was used as a pigment in prehistoric cave paintings because of its color. Since ancient times, this mineral has also been used as an additive in glass production, as it helps to remove the green tint from natural glass caused by traces of iron ions.
It was not until 1740 that the Berlin physician and chemist Johann Heinrich Pott was able to show that pyrolusite does not contain iron, as originally assumed, but another, as yet unknown element.
It was not until a quarter of a century later that the Swedish chemist Johan Gottlieb Gahn succeeded in producing elemental manganese by reducing pyrolusite with carbon.
In 1839, it was discovered that manganese improves the malleability of iron. In 1856, Robert Forester Mushet showed that the addition of manganese enabled the mass production of steel using the Bessemer process. This led to manganese being used in large quantities for steel production within a short period of time.
From the mid-18th century onwards, manganese oxide was also used in the production of chlorine.
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Application
90 percent of mined manganese goes to the steel industry in the form of ferromanganese as an alloy component. It removes oxygen and sulfur from the steel and at the same time improves hardening. While normal steel contains about one percent manganese, the proportion in manganese steel is around 13 percent. This extremely hard alloy is used in railroad tracks, safes, and bearings, among other things.
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Occurrence, Mining and Extraction
Annual production in 2023 was around 20 million tons per year.
Manganese is found in many deposits around the world. With estimated global reserves of more than 3 billion tons, a shortage of manganese is not expected.
The most economically important minerals are pyrolusite, manganite, and hausmannite.
Manganese occurs in large quantities in so-called manganese nodules in the deep sea.
South Africa is by far the leading mining country for manganese ores. Its market share is around 60 percent. Several mines are located in the very resource-rich Kalahari Basin, where the Australian company South32 operates several mines.
South32, which was formed in 2015 through a spin-off from BHP Billion, operates Gemco in Australia, one of the most cost-effective manganese mines in the world, and is one of the largest manganese producers in the world.
Gabon ranks second in manganese production, where Eramet (France) operates the Moanda mine.
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Substitution
There is no suitable substitute for manganese.
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