What is it?
A brittle grey metal that steel cannot be made without, and that is now being used to stretch scarce nickel and cobalt further in batteries.
Why does it matter?
Around 90% of manganese goes into steel — it removes sulfur and oxygen and adds toughness. There is no substitute in steelmaking at any price.
Deeper written sections for this material have not been published yet. Everything below is drawn straight from the source datasets and is complete.
Where it comes from in the rock
All ore minerals →These are the minerals that actually carry manganese. A deposit is only an orebody if one of them is concentrated enough to pay for digging it up.
Who produces it
See it on a map →Mine production
Mine productionthousand metric tons 2025 (estimated) World total 20,000 thousand metric tons
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · USGS world figures are manganese CONTENT of ore, not gross ore tonnes. · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Country | Production | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 7,600 | 38.0% |
| Gabon | 5,000 | 25.0% |
| Ghana | 2,000 | 10.0% |
| Australia | 1,600 | 8.0% |
| Other countries | 1,300 | 6.5% |
| Brazil | 800.0 | 4.0% |
| India | 790.0 | 4.0% |
| China | 700.0 | 3.5% |
| Côte d’Ivoire | 350.0 | 1.8% |
| United States | Zero | — |
| World total | 20,000 | 100% |
“Withheld” means the USGS suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing an individual company's data — it does not mean zero. Country rows do not always sum to the world total because the source rounds each figure independently and does not always break out an “other countries” line.
Who holds the reserves
Reserves
Reservesthousand metric tons 2025
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗
| Country | Reserves | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 580,000 | 34.1% |
| South Africa | 550,000 | 32.4% |
| Brazil | 300,000 | 17.6% |
| China | 260,000 | 15.3% |
| Gabon | 61,000 | 3.6% |
| India | 34,000 | 2.0% |
| Ghana | 13,000 | 0.8% |
| United States | Zero | — |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Not applicable | — |
| Other countries | Small | — |
| World total | 1,700,000 | 100% |
Price
average, manganese content, cost, insurance, and freight, China, dollars per metric ton unit
Annual averagedollars per metric ton
Basis: average, manganese content, cost, insurance, and freight, China, dollars per metric ton unit. Annual averages as published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗. These are reference annual averages, not a live market quote.
Mines that produce it
All mines →
Moanda
One of the world's largest manganese deposits.
Carajás
The highest-grade large iron-ore operation in the world.
What it is used for
All end markets →| End market | What it does there | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Construction & Steel | In every tonne of steel | Defining |
| Electric Vehicles | Cathode component in NMC and LMFP | Important |
| Grid Storage | Manganese-based cathodes | Important |
How much of it a technology needs
| Technology | Quantity | Quoted | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| NMC Lithium-Ion Battery | 5.00–9.00 kg | per 75 kWh pack | Contained manganese |
| Sodium-Ion Battery | 10.00–30.00 kg | per 75 kWh equivalent | Layered-oxide cathode variants |
Indicative range compiled from published technology studies and chemistry; verify against a manufacturer specification before use. Run these numbers at any scale in the material calculator →
Export controls
| Country | Control | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Namibia | Export ban | Ores and concentrates of cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, and rare earths (2023). ↗ |
| Vietnam | Export ban | Raw materials of iron, lead-zinc, chromite, manganese, apatite, and rare earths and deeply processed titanium (2012). ↗ |
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, table 4 — controls in effect as of January 2026, excluding controls since lifted.
Follow it across the borders
All journeys →Where a consignment of this material actually goes — every country, every custodian, and what is left behind at each step.
Pilbara iron ore to Chinese steel The largest material flow on Earth: dig it, crush it, screen it, and put it on a boat.