Manganese ores are minerals. They are distinguished by important industrial and economic importance. These include minerals such as brownite, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, bustamite, pyrolusite, manganite and others. Manganese ores are found on all continents (they are also on the territory of the Russian Federation).
World Reserves
To date, manganese ore has been discovered in 56 countries. Most of the deposits are in Africa (about 2/3). In total, reserves of manganese ores in the world, according to theoretical calculations, amount to 21 billion tons (confirmed 5 billion). More than 90% of them are in stratiform deposits - deposits associated with sedimentary rocks. The rest relates to weathering crust and hydrothermal springs.
95% of the reserves belong to 11 countries - Ukraine, South Africa, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Australia, Georgia, Brazil, Russia, China, India and Bulgaria. Despite the fact that in China, the quality of natural ores is relatively low, China is considered the leader in the production of export ore. In addition, it supplies many minerals derived from this raw material.
Zoning
World mining of manganese ores is characterized by zoning. For example, primary oxide raw materials are deposited exclusively in coastal areas where clays and sandstones are common. Moving away from the seas and oceans, ores become carbonate. These include calcium rhodochrositis, rhodochrositis and manganocalcite. Such manganese ore is found in regions with flasks and clays. Another type of deposits is metamorphosed. Similar mines are characteristic of India.
Ancient ores
Like other sources of minerals, manganese ores in the world were formed in the most different periods of the development of the crust of our planet. They appeared both in the Precambrian and in the Cenozoic era. Some nodules at the bottom of the oceans accumulate to this day.
One of the oldest is considered to be Brazilian iron quartzites and Indian gondites, which appeared in the Precambrian metallogenic era along with geosynclinal formations. In the same period, Ghanaian manganese ore (Nsuta-Dagwin deposit) and South Africa (southeast of the Kalahari desert) appeared. Small reserves of the Early Paleozoic era exist in the United States, China, and eastern Russia. The largest field in the PRC of this period is considered to be Shanvutu in Hunan Province. Manganese ore mined in Russia is located in the Far East (in the mountains of Small Khingan) and in the Kuznetsk Alatau.
Late Paleolithic and Cenozoic
Manganese ores of the Late Paleozoic era are characteristic of Central Kazakhstan, where two main deposits are being developed - Ushkatyn-Sh and Dzhezdinskoye. The key minerals are brownite, hausmanite, hematite, manganite, pyromorphite and psilomelan. Late Cretaceous and Jurassic volcanism gave rise to manganese ore occurrences in Transbaikalia, Transcaucasia, New Zealand and on the coast of North America. The largest field of this period, Groot Island, was discovered in the 1960s. in Australia.
In the Cenozoic era, a unique accumulation of manganese ore occurred in the south of the East European platform (Mangyshlansky, Chiaturskoye deposits, Nikopol basin). Then manganese ore appeared in other regions of the globe. Obrochishte field was formed in Bulgaria, and Moanda - in Gabon. All of them are characterized by ore-bearing sand and clay deposits. The minerals in them are present in the form of oolites, nodules, earthy clusters and deposits. Another manganese ore basin (Ural) appeared in the Tertiary period. It extends over 300 kilometers. This layer of manganese ores with a thickness of 1 to 3 meters covers the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains.
Types of Ores
There are several genetic types of manganese ore deposits: volcanic-sedimentary, sedimentary, metamorphogenic, and weathering. Of these four species, the most important for the global economy is clearly highlighted. We are talking about sedimentary deposits. They concentrated about 80% of all reserves of manganese ores in the world.
The largest deposits were formed in the lagoon and coastal marine basins. This is the Georgian Chiatur field, Kazakhstan Mangyshlak, Bulgarian Obrochishte. Also, its large size differs Ukrainian Nikopol basin. Its ore-bearing areas extend along the Ingulets and Dnieper rivers. The nearest cities are Zaporozhye and Nikopol. The pool is an elongated strip 5 kilometers wide and 250 kilometers long. A stratum is a sandy-clay pack with lenses, nodules and constrictions. Manganese ore, the photo of which you see in the article, lies at a depth of 100 meters.
Submarine and volcanic deposits
Manganese ore is mined not only on land, but also under water. This is done mainly by the USA and Japan, which do not have large reserves in the "dry" territory. A typical underwater manganese ore deposit is being developed at a depth of up to 5 kilometers.
Another type of formation is volcanic. Such deposits are characterized by a connection with ferruginous and carbonate rocks. Ore bodies, as a rule, are quickly wedging out irregular lenses, layers and lentils. They are composed of carbonates of iron and manganese. The thickness of such ore bodies is from 1 to 10 meters. The volcanic-sedimentary type includes deposits in Kazakhstan and Russia (Ir-Niliiskoye and Primagnitogorskoye). They are also ores of the Salair Ridge (porphyry-siliceous formations).
Weathering crusts and metamorphogenic ores
Deposits of weathering crust are formed as a result of decomposition of manganese ores. Specialists also call these clusters hats. There are breeds of this type in Brazil, India, Venezuela, Australia, South Africa, and Canada. These ores include vernadite, psilomelan, and pyrolusite. They are formed as a result of the oxidation of rhodonite, manganocalcite and rhodochrosite.
Metamorphogenic ores are formed by contact or regional metamorphism of manganese-containing rocks and sedimentary ores. So rhodonite and bustamite appear. An example of such a field is Karsakpayskoye in Kazakhstan.
Russian deposits of manganese ores
The Urals is a key region for the extraction of manganese ore in Russia. The industrial deposits of the Stone Belt can be attributed to two types: volcanic and sedimentary. The latter are located in the Ordovician deposits. This group includes the Chuval group in the Perm Territory. The Parnokskoye field in Komi is very similar to it. It was discovered in 1987 by a geological expedition from Vorkuta. The field is located in the foothills of the Polar Urals , 70 kilometers from Inta. This formation is located on the border between shales and limestones. There are several key ore-bearing areas: Pachvozhsky, Magnetic, Far, and East.
Like other deposits of this type, the Parnokskoye deposit has the most carbonate, oxidized and manganese rocks. They differ in cream or brown color and consist of rhodonite and rhodochrosite. The manganese content in them is about 24%.
The wealth of the Urals
The Verkhne-Chuval deposits located in the Perm Territory are relatively poorly studied. On the upper horizons in the oxidation zone, brown and black ferromanganese ores are developed in them. Sedimentary deposits are widespread on the eastern slope of the Urals (Kipchakskoye in the Chelyabinsk region, Akkermanovskoye in the Orenburg region). The development of the latter began during the Great Patriotic War.
Seventy kilometers from the capital of Bashkiria, the city of Ufa, is the Upper Perm sedimentary deposit Ulu-Telyak. The manganese limestones located here are light brown in color. Basically, this is a detrital material formed after the destruction of primary ores. It is composed of vernadite, chalcedony and psilomelan.
In the Sverdlovsk region are Paleogene sedimentary deposits. A large North Ural basin stands out here, stretching for almost 300 kilometers. It has the largest proven reserves of manganese ores in the region. The pool includes fifteen deposits. The largest of them are Yekaterininsky, Yuzhno-Berezovskoye, Novo-Berezovskoye, Berezovskoye, Yurkinskoye, Marsyatskoye, Ivdelskoye, Lozvinskoye, Tyninskoye. Local strata occur among sand, clay, sandstones, siltstones and pebbles.