Manganese is the 12th most abundant chemical element in the earth's crust and its main ores are pyrolusite and rhodochrosite. The largest deposits are located in South Africa, Brazil, Ukraine, Australia, India, China and Gabon.
In Brazil, the ore is mined mainly in the states of Pará, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul. This has played an important role in the development of several steelmaking processes, as it is the fourth most used metal in the world, it comes right after iron, aluminum and copper and is present in our routine.
It is widely used in cars and construction, so about 90% of all manganese consumed today goes to steelmakers.
It is common to use metal alloys of this element in the steel industry, which is also used as a moderate deoxidizer, is not recyclable and has no economic substitute, due to its relatively low price, in addition to technical benefits, the use of another substance is not viable.
