Ferromanganese

Manganese in the world can be found as various black minerals such as Pyrolusite (MnO2).

A number of manganese-containing ferroalloys are manufactured which are used largely in the mild steel, foundry, and stainless steel industries. The names and typical compositions of these alloys are given in Table 1, and the international standards for the most commonly used alloys, namely-high carbon ferromanganese HC FeMn and silico-manganese FeSiMn, are given in the table 2. There are generally classified as intermediate products, and the range of their end uses is shown in figure 1.

Generally, high-carbon ferromanganese and silicomanganese are produced from a blend of manganese-containing ores, and in the case of siliconmanganese, slag and silica are added. Ferromanganese can be produced in either electric submerged furnaces or blast furnaces, although only 4 (four) blast furnace producer exist in the wesgtern world, whereas silicomanganese is largely produced in submerged arc furnaces. Producers of high carbon ferromanganese and silicomanganese are listed in the table 3.

High carbon ferromanganese can be converted to medium-carbon manganese by an oxigen blowing process, and silicomanganese can be further refined into medium or low-carbon ferromanganese as well as manganese metal (figure 2).

Reference: Habashi, "Handbook of Extractive Metallurgy Volume I".