per cent in manganese, are used mainly in the production of the high-grade alloy called ferromanganese or ferro, in which the manganese constitutes 65 to 80 per cent of the total. To a very limited extent manganese is smelted directly with iron ores, thus lessening the amount to be introduced in the form of alloys; this, however, is regarded as wasteful use of manganese, since its effectiveness as so used is not very great. Steel makers usually prefer to introduce manganese in the form of ferromanganese rather than as spiegel. On the other hand, the ores of the United States as a whole are better adapted to the manufacture of spiegel. With the shutting off of foreign high-grade supplies during the war, resulting in the increased use of local ores, it became necessary to use larger amounts of the spiegel which could be made from these ores. Metallurgists stated that it was theoretically possible to substitute spiegel for the higher grade alloy up to 70 per cent of the total manganese requirement, but in actual practice this substitution did not get much beyond 18 per cent.
The principal manganese ore-producing countries in normal times are Russia, India, and Brazil. Relatively little ore is used in these countries, most of it being sent to the consuming countries of Europe and to the United States. The Indian ore has been used largely by British steel plants, but much of it also has gone to the United States, Belgium, France, and Germany. The Russian ore has been used by all five of these countries, Germany having a considerable degree of commercial control and receiving the largest part; a small quantity is also used in Russia. Brazilian ore has gone mainly to the United States, and in part to France, Germany, and England.
Smaller amounts of manganese ore have been produced in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Spain, and Japan. This production has had little effect on the world situation. That produced in Austria-Hungary and Germany is used in the domestic industry. That from Spain and Japan is in large part exported.
The highest grade of manganese ore comes from the Russian mines, especially those in the Caucasus region. Most of the ore used for the manufacture of dry batteries and in the chemical industry, where high-grade ores are required, has come from Russia. By far the larger part of the Russian production, however, has gone into steel manufacture. Indian and Brazilian ores have likewise been used mainly in the steel industry. Some Japanese ore also is of high grade and is used for chemical and battery purposes.
Nature has not endowed the United States very abundantly with manganese ores, and such as are known are widely scattered, of relatively small tonnage, and of a wide range of grade. The principal producing districts are the Philipsburg district of Montana and the Cuyuna Range of Minnesota; there are also scattering supplies in Virginia, Arizona, California, and many other states. The use of domestic ores has sometimes been unsatisfactory, because of frequent failure of domestic producers to deliver amounts and grades contracted for. It has been, on the whole, cheaper, easier, and more satisfactory for the large consumers to purchase the imported ore, which is delivered in any desired amount and in uniform grades, rather than to try to assemble usable mixtures from various parts of the country.
Before the