Problem of manganese in Russian metallurgy

Ferrous metallurgical industry is the main consumer of m nese. The production volume of manganese ferroalloys in the world is approximately 1 % of steel production. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian Federation found itself without any manganese ore base. At present, only high-carbon ferromanganese and ferrosilicomanganese are smelted from imported ore in Russia in a limited quantity. The mineral and raw base of manganese ores in Russia is quite large: the balance reserves of manganese ores are about 230 million tons (approximately 2 % of the world), forecast resources – more than 1 billion tons. Quality of the manganese ores is lower than the manganese ores of most major producing countries. Average manganese content in Russian ores is 9 – 23 %. Basis of mineral and raw base of these manganese ores are carbonate ores, share of which is more than 77 %. Manganese ore mining in Russia is sporadic and does not exceed 66 thousand tons per year. Demand of Russian ferroalloy plants, producing manganese ferroalloys, in manganese ores and concentrates is covered by imports. The problem of accelerating the creation of domestic manganese ore base from the position of economic security seems to be very important. It is necessary to solve a number of issues related to the enrichment of poor manganese ores, development of effective technologies for manganese ferroalloys smelting from concentrates obtained after the enrichment of these ores, as well as creation of more advanced methods of manganese concentrates dephosphorization. In the production of manganese ferroalloys from ore to finished alloys, about 50 % of manganese mined from the subsoil is lost; a large number of by-products are formed (sludges of enrichment, slags, screenings of small fractions of ore raw materials and finished products, sludges of smelting process and dust). The use and processing of them allow not only to reduce the consumption of initial mineral raw materials, but also to increase the efficiency of main production and to reduce environmental pollution. Additional extraction of manganese from industrial wastes and improvement of the technological processes for manganese ferroalloys smelting are the ways to increase the through extraction of manganese.

manganese, mineral resources base, smelting of manganese ferroalloys, dephosphorization, loss of manganese, nodules

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