Metallogenic regularity and resource potential of manganese deposits in southern Africa

As an important metal, manganese is widely used in various industrial fields.The total amount of manganese resources in the world is abundant, but its distribution is extremely uneven, mainly distributed in South Africa, Ukraine, Brazil, Australia and other countries.Manganese resources in China are characterized by large tonnage, low tenor, and difficulty in mining.In order to meet domestic demand, China needs to import a large amount of manganese ore from overseas every year.Southern Africa is rich in manganese resources, mainly consisting of four metallogenic types, namely marine sedimentary metamorphic type, marine sedimentary type, hydrothermal type and supergene type.Among them, the marine sedimentary metamorphic type and marine sedimentary type are the most important, and they are further divided into BIF rocks-hosted Mn deposit, black shale-hosted Mn deposit and silicon-mud-limestone-hosted Mn deposits based on the ore-bearing rocks.The metallogenic epoch of primary manganese deposits is mainly concentrated in 2.2~2.0 Ga, which is coupled with Eburnean orogeny.Spatially, it is mainly distributed on the edge of ancient landmass, and the metallogenic background is mainly back-arc basin and marginal basin.The current southern Africa is a typical case with favorable metallogenic geological conditions, overall low level of prospecting and exploration, and huge potential of manganese resources.