South Africa holds some of the most important manganese deposits in the world, accounting for 30% of worldwide production and nearly 50% of global exports. The most well-known world manganese resources are found in the Kalahari Basin of the Northern Cape province.
Manganese is mostly extracted at open-cast mines, using explosives and excavators, but there are also several underground manganese mines in South Africa as well as in India and Mexico.
After mining, the raw manganese ore is transported to processing facilities, where it is crushed to reduce the size of the ore and make it easier to handle. The crushed ore is then screened to separate it by size. This helps to remove impurities and improve the quality of the ore.
From our processing facilities, ore is trucked approximately 100km from site to the Transnet-owned Lohatlha siding for transportation to the deep-water Port of Ngqura, located 20km north-east of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth).
100 percent of our ore is exported by sea to China where it will undergo various beneficiation processes to concentrate and enhance the metal’s characteristics depending on its final product application. These processes include gravity separation, magnetic separation, flotation, leaching and other chemical processes, electrolysis, and smelting.
