Geology of the world’s manganese deposits. Article 2. Prospects for the development of manganese ore mineral raw material base of Ukraine

Abstract

Ukraine ranks third in the world in terms of total manganese resources, which constitute about 6% of global resources, and it is the world leader in consumption and production of manganese commodities (ferromanganese, silicon manganese, metallic manganese, etc.). Information on the structure of the Nikopolske and Velykotokmatske manganese deposits of Ukraine has been provided; conditions of occurrence, the thickness of layers and reserves of manganese ores have been analyzed. Despite the fact that Ukraine ranks third in terms of global manganese reserves, there is currently a situation when manganese production is not conducted due to general issues of the manganese mineral and raw material base that require the introduction of more advanced technological schemes of mining, enrichment of ores and processing of concentrates. Furthermore, additional searches for domestic highly profitable manganese deposits will contribute to the successful development of the entire mineral and raw material base of our state. Currently, extracted manganese quantities and enrichment are determined not only by general issues of the entire mineral and raw material base of Ukraine, but also by the low quality of available manganese ore deposits, the low manganese content in ores, a greater share of low-quality carbonate ores than oxide or mixed ores, as well as a significant excess of categories of commercial reserves over prognostic and prospective resources. In order to resolve these issues, it is crucial to introduce the latest effective technologies for mining, processing and enrichment of manganese ores. Given the pace of technical and technological progress observed globally in recent decades, it is quite likely that cost-efficient extraction of iron-manganese concretions from the sea bottom will begin during this period. Works on the allocation of technological and, accordingly, more profitable areas of manganese ore deposits will allow us to allocate separate objects of subsoil use within huge areas of deposits known at the moment, and attract a larger amount of investments to the extraction and processing of manganese ores.

Keywords

• manganese
• mineral
• velykotokmatske deposit
• nikopolske deposit