Manganese is a metal of strategic importance which is vital to the steel industry. In the production of steel, the two main uses of manganese are as a deoxidizer and as an alloying constituent. Approximately 13 pounds of manganese are used for each ton of steel, and for this use alone, the requirement of the United States in 1956 will approach two million tons of ferromanganese ore. In 1954, the United States imported over 90 percent of its manganese requirements and if these sources become unavailable, this nation will be dependent to a great extent upon abundant low-grade ores.

A sample of the head ore from the Betty Baker Mine, Great Gossan Lead, Carroll County, Virginia, analyzed 0.82 percent acid soluble manganese. An analysis of the tailings from flotation of this complex sulfide ore revealed a total manganese content of approximately three percent of which two-thirds is acid soluble. The remaining one percent is in the form of a silicate-aluminate gangue which is acid insoluble.

Mechanical methods such as froth flotation, sink float, and magnetic separation have not been too effective in upgrading the ore from Carroll County. Chemical procedures, such as roasting, leaching, and electrodeposition, were thought to offer a better means for the recovery of manganese from the beneficiated ore or tailings.

It was the purpose of this investigation to evaluate procedures for chemically converting the manganese compounds in the tailings, from bulk sulfide flotation of the Carroll County ore, to soluble salts from which the manganese could be recovered electrolytically.