They are mined in many places in much the same manner as coal. Those of India and Brazil are chiefly surface concentrations of the manganese oxides, formed by the weathering of underlying rocks which contain manganese carbonates and silicates. The origin of the primary manganese minerals in the Indian and in some of the Brazilian deposits is obscure. In others of the Brazilian ores, the manganese was deposited in sedimentary layers interbedded with siliceous "iron formations," and the whole series has subsequently been altered and recrystallized.
The manganese ores of Philipsburg, Montana, the principal large high-grade deposits mined in the United States, were derived by surface weathering from manganese carbonates which form replacements in limestone near the contact with a great batholith of granodiorite. The primary manganese minerals probably owe their origin to hot magmatic solutions, as suggested by the close association of the ores with the igneous rock, the presence of minerals containing chlorine, fluorine, and boron, and the development in the limestone of dense silicates and mineral associations characteristic of hot-water alteration. The manganese ores are mined principally in the oxidized zone. Rich silver ores are found below the water table, but mainly in veins independent of the manganese deposits.
At Butte, Montana, a little high-grade manganese material has been obtained from the unoxidized pink manganese carbonate, which is a common mineral in some of the veins. It is associated with quartz and metallic sulphides and is similar in origin to the copper ores of the same district (pp. 201-202).
The lower-grade and the more ferruginous manganese ores are of a somewhat similar origin to the principal high-grade ores, in that they represent surface concentrations of the oxides from smaller percentages of the carbonates and silicates in the rocks below. Deposits of this nature have been derived from a wide variety of parent rocks—from contact zones around igneous intrusions, from fissure veins of various origins, from calcareous and clayey sediments, and from slates and schists. The manganese and manganiferous iron ores of the Cuyuna district of Minnesota, the largest source of low-grade ores in this country, were formed by the action of weathering processes on sedimentary beds of manganese and iron carbonates constituting "iron formations." The process is the same as the concentration of Lake Superior iron ores described elsewhere.
Manganese, like iron, is less soluble than most of the rock constituents, and tends to remain in the outcrop under weathering conditions. To some extent also it is dissolved and reprecipitated, and is thus gathered into concretions and irregular nodular deposits in the residual clays. In some cases it is closely associated with iron minerals; in others, due to its slightly greater solubility, it has been separated from the iron and segregated into relatively pure masses. With manganese, as with iron, katamorphic processes are responsible for the concentration of most of the ores. The ores are in general surface products, and rarely extend to depths of over a hundred feet.
CHROME (OR CHROMITE) ORES
Economic Features
The principal use of chrome ores is in the making of the alloy ferrochrome (60 to 70 per cent chromium), used for the manufacture of chrome, chrome-nickel, and other steels. These steels have great toughness and hardness, and are used for armor-plate, projectiles, high-speed cutting tools, automobile frames, safe-deposit vaults, and other purposes. Chrome ore is used also both in the crude form and in the form of