RE: RE: USG Report On Manganese Brent, I would caution you not to assume that manganese carbonate from Boleo would ever be sent to a smelter. One major problem, according to Mr. Greenslade, is that the American market for manganese carbonate is too small to absorb all of Boleo's potential MnCO3 production.
MnCO3 can be used as feedstock to produce EMM (electrolytic manganese metal) but the process does not use a smelter. The process is one of acid leaching, purification and electrowinning in a divided cell. See the October 2010 technical report. This electrowinning requires a very high current level and hence a relatively inexpensive source of electricity to make it economically feasible.
If manganese carbonate is produced at Boleo, it would not be shipped as a concentrate but as a MnCO3 precipitate. It is noteworthy (ibid) that:
"The leach extractions are generally very high with more than 99% extraction of manganese. The leach solution contains minor amounts of deleterious elements including Cd, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn. These elements are removed by sulphide precipitation using ammonium sulphide solution."
Cheers,
Doug.