MANGANESE IN FOCUS

SOUTH AFRICA’S MANGANESE DEPOSIT

South Africa has the largest mineral resource and reserve base of manganese in the world and ranks second after China in both the global production and exportation of manganese ore. South Africa holds 80 percent of global reserves with a 34 percent manganese content, the majority of which comes from the Kalahari Manganese Field. The country’s share of the world’s high-grade manganese reserves far outweighs, for example, Ukraine with nine percent, India’s three percent, and China’s two percent.

THE KALAHARI MANGANESE BASIN

The Kalahari Manganese Field, located in the Northern Cape, is the largest known deposit in the world and is estimated to contain approximately 13 million tonnes of exploitable manganese. These reserves, which represent more than 80 percent of the world’s total reserves, are contained in the basin located between Mamatwan Mine, Wessels Mine, and covers an area of about 40 kilometres north to south, and between five to 15 kilometres east to west.

KMR GEOLOGY

There are two main ore types in the Kalahari deposit, the primary Mamatwan type ore, and the secondary Wessels type ore. Farm York is located towards the eastern end of the Kalahari Basin, which consists mainly of the Mamatwan type ore and is split by a pair of dykes. Generally, manganese enrichment is found alongside the contact of such dykes, and the primary resource on Farm York is towards the northern end of said dykes. A large portion of this resource extends onto Farm Telele. The ore on these KMR farms is sufficient to support continued mining activities for more than 30 years.