Manganese

 

Characteristics and Applications of Manganese
Manganese is the world's fourth-most consumed metal by weight behind Iron, Aluminium and copper. It is the twelfth-most abundant in the Earth's crust. It is a brittle, hard gray-white metal that looks much like iron.

 

Metallurgical
Both historically and currently, the greatest use of manganese - about 90% - is for production of steel and cast iron, for which no suitable substitute for the metal has yet been found. (The remaining 10% is used in making batteries, chemicals and aluminum cans.)

 

In steelmaking, manganese is usually added in the form of a ferroalloy. This includes three grades of ferromanganese (FeMn) - one standard (high-carbon - HC) grade containing 65-79% Mn and 7% carbon, and two refined grades with medium-carbon (MC) and low-carbon (LC) - and silicomanganese (SiMn), which contains 60-77% Mn and around 2% carbon. Cost, the type of steel being made and the process being used usually determine which ferroalloy is used.

 

In addition to its use as an alloy in steel and cast iron, manganese is also employed as an alloy (in very much lesser amounts) with aluminum, copper, nickel, titanium and zinc. It's also used in miniscule amounts for electronic applications, with, amongst other metals, bismuth, gold and silver.

 

Nonmetallurgical
After steel, the battery sector is currently the second-largest consumer of manganese today. In addition, manganese is used nonmetallurgically in:

• Animal feed and fertilizers
• Colorants for various cosmetics, plastics and artists' glazes
• Pigments for bricks, frits, glass, paints tiles and textiles
• Water treatment chemicals

 

 

Manganese Ore

 

 

Chrome Ore

 

 

Iron Ore

 

 

Manganese and Chrome Alloys

 

 

Ferro Silicon