Mohave County miner. [volume] (Mineral Park, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1882-1918, 1917-01-27
BIG INCREASE IN
19I6PRODUCTION
Of MANGANESE


survey, Department of the Interior,
show that the production Of manga
nese ore in 1916 was about $1,000 tons,
the greatest since 1888 and nearly
three times that in 1915, which was
97O9 tons. The estimate does not in
clude manganiferous iron ores that
contain less than 40 per cent of man
ganese, but it is very probable that
the production of ores of this class
also was much greater than in 1915.
This output has come largely from
seven states, and the order in produc-
ton will probably prove to be as fol-
lows: California, Arkansas, Arizona,
Georgia, Virginia, Utah, Colorado.
This order is interesting, because this
is the first year in which a western
state remote from the steel producing
centers has contributed the largest
amount of manganese ore. The ac-
tivity among manganese mines In
California is due largely to the market
for ores provided by the Noble Electric
Steel company at Heroult. 1t is not yet
possible to state the production of
high grade ores adapted for use in
dry batteries, but reports indicate that
it will exceed $500 tons and therefore
be five times that in 1915. Ores of
this class are now produced in Ari-
iona, California, Utah, Colorado and
Virginia, but the amount produced is
still scarcely one-tenth the normal de-
mand.
The prices paid for manganese ore
adapted to the manufacture of ferro-
manganese rose from a maximum of
$3.50 for so per cent ore in 1915 to
$3.50 in March, 1916. Except for
minor fluctuations, which depended on
temporary variations in demand,
prices were nearly constant until the
last month of the year, when sales at
prices as high as $50 for so per cent
Indian ore were reported. There were
rumors that a contract for the deliv-
cry of 100000 tons of Brazilian ore
during 1917 was placed at S23 per ton
f. o. b. Brazilian port, from which the
freight rate to Baltimore is S12 ton.
Ore adapted to the manufacture of
dry batteries containing so per cent
of manganese dioxide and less than 1
per cent of iron) continues to sell for
about $85 ton.
Imports of manganese ore for the
first ten months of 1916 amounted to
495, 299 tons, of which 401,177 tons
came from Brazil. For the same period
of 1915 Brazil supplied 181 ,258 tons
out of the total of 1926 tons. There
is a prospect, therefore, that the i'm
ports for the entire year will prove
to have been almost double those of
1915-32O,778 tons. Considering the
small part of the demand, that was
supplies by Brazil during the eight
years prior to 1914, it is reassuring to
know that the deposits of that country
can be made to yield such enormous
quantities of ore. Imports from India,
Cuba, Panama and Japan were also
greater than in 1915.
Imports of ferromanganese for the
first II months of 1916 were 73,435
tons, which is nearly so per cent more
than for the corresponding period in
1915, though bearing similar ratio to
the domestic production. Prices
reached the highest figures ever re-
corded in the United States in April,
1916, when, it is reported, S400 ton
was paid for a small lot for immediate
delivery. For the remainder of the
year the price declined steadily to $3.50
a ton in October, then rose to $175
again in December. The price Of
spiegeleisen carrying 20 per cent of
manganese ranged from a maximum
of $50 in July to $40 in December.
An important consequence of the
prevailing high prices of manganese
alloys is the attempt on the part of
steel makers to use substitutes. The
extent to which substitutes for manga
nese steel may be used has not been
determined, but experiments by sew
eral steel works show that an alloy of
iron, carbon and titanium may be sat
isfactorily used to replace a part of
the ferromanganese commonly added.
Although number of mines in Vir
ginia, Georgia and Arkansas were re-
opened during 1916, the greatest &C
tivity is reported among mines in
California, Arizona, Utah, New Mex
leo and other western states. This is
due in part to the operation of electric
reduction plants in California and
Washington, but more largely to the
low percentage of iron in some of the