Manganese, News & Features, Resource News
U.S. manganese supply a strategic necessity – Zhang
By Mineweb · October 5, 2011 · 9:19 am · Leave a Comment
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By Zig Lambo
The Critical Metals Report: The United States Department of Defense named manganese a strategic metal 30 years ago, but China still dominates the global production of electrolytic manganese (EMM) with 98% of production. What are the safety and economic development implications of a lack of a domestic supply in the U.S.?
Peter Zhang: There really is no electrolytic manganese metals production in U.S. or anywhere outside China except for a small percentage from South Africa. We don’t produce even a single ounce in North America. Relying on other countries to supply essential commodities (like oil for instance) is always a problem. If China suddenly decided to reduce production, or in the likely event that its domestic demand increases, the world would be out of options. Policymakers need to understand this risk and Congress needs to take action to minimize the potential impacts.
