Conclusion

In our opinion, the studied examples of the formation of manganese-ore deposits of various genetic
types can serve as models in the interpretation of geological data for other, already known deposits and
in surveying for new manganese-ore objects.
Primary manganese ores from the overwhelming majority of global deposits are repre-
sented by carbonates and oxides (more rarely, hydroxides) of manganese, which were formed in
­sedimentary-rock basins and are closely connected paragenetically (in many cases also geneti-
cally) with sedimentary and volcanogenic-sedimentary rocks. The mineral form of deposited com-
pounds of manganese is determined by the prevailing physical-chemical conditions (Eh, pH, etc.)
of various zones of the basin of sedimentation or of the stages of lithification of the initial sediment
(lithogenesis).
Manganese oxides are formed in a medium with high oxidation potential (Eh) predominantly in the
shore zones of shallow-water or on the bottom of the basins with submarine discharge of hydrother-
mals, whereas manganese carbonates are formed principally in reductive conditions within the sedi-
ment itself during various stages of lithogenesis.
In nature, specifically sedimentary manganese carbonates—that is, those that would have pre-
cipitated from the mass of lake or marine water—do not exist. All manganese carbonates are authi-
genic: their formation occurs within the sediment in conditions of early diagenesis as a result of the
redistribution of manganese already contained in the sediment itself (in the form of oxides) or later
during catagenesis as a result of the supply into the already lithified sediment by new portions of
manganese.
A general regularity of the formation of manganese carbonates under conditions of early diagenesis
is the necessary participation in this process by microbially oxidized carbon of organic matter; the
formation of manganese carbonates of post-early-diagenetic stages (phases) of lithogenesis features
participation by isotopically light carbon, which was formed during the metamorphism (destruction)
of organic matter under conditions of the submersion of sedimentary strata into the depth (including
during various phases of oil and gas generation).
The concentration of manganese up to the size of deposits occurs primarily in exogenous con-
ditions of the Earth’s crust—on the borders of the division between the atmosphere and the rock
(the zone of hypergenesis) and in the sedimentary-diagenetic (early diagenesis) stages, and to a
lesser degree in subsequent stages of lithification of the initial sediment and the transformation
of sedimentary or volcanogenic-sedimentary rock (diagenesis of submersion, concretion forma-
tion). An important factor in the concentration of manganese is contributed by the presence of
organic matter in the sediment (rock), resulting from the bioproductivity of the paleo-water body.
Oxidized organic matter (carbon dioxide) facilitates the concentration of manganese up to ore
concentrations.
The distribution of deposits of manganese in time (geological) and space (within the boundaries of
the paleo-continents and the modern continents) can be taken as a proof that manganese accumulation
occurred in sedimentary-rock basins with various regimes of sedimentation and in various paleotectonic
and paleoclimatic environments, coincided with sequences of sedimentary (terrigenous-, chemogenic-,
and biogenic-) and volcanogenic-sedimentary rocks, and formed during various stages of sediment and
lithogenesis.
390
 CONCLUSION 391

During the early stages of the establishment of the Earth’s crust (in the Archean Eon), manga-
nese was accumulated in rocks predominantly in scattered form; significant concentrations of man-
ganese in rocks of this age have not been discovered. Industrially viable accumulations of manganese
ores are represented by weathering crusts on manganese-containing rocks and poor manganese ores
(metamorphosed).
This applies likewise to deposits of the Proterozoic manganese-ore period, when principally
­manganese-containing rocks (carbonaceous clayey, siliceous-ferruginous shales, and the like) were
accumulated; these served as parent rocks for many large deposits of weathering crusts. The source of
manganese was predominantly the products of the destruction of Archean rocks.
Standing apart in this set is the giant deposit of the Kalahari manganese-ore field (Republic of South
Africa), the genesis of which has not been explained in its entirety. The available data allow us to pro-
pose its post-sedimentational (biometasomatic) origin.
In the Phanerozoic manganese period, the conditions of manganese accumulation changed sub-
stantially. Forming in shallow-water shore zones of many water bodies were deposits of primary
­oxide-manganese, and in sediments of more deepwater districts of the basin deposits primary carbonate
manganese ores were formed. In districts with active manifestations of volcanogenic and hydrothermal
(subaqueous) activity, predominantly ferromanganese deposits were formed in many basins.
The most industrially valuable manganese deposits today are represented by deposits of ancient
and modern weathering crusts (the zone of hypergenesis), above all those of the near-equatorial dis-
tricts of the countries of South America and Africa, as well as Australia and India. For this reason,
these districts are unarguably the most prospective for the presence of new deposits of quality ores
(eg, the Brazilian and Guiana shields of South America, the Precambrian rocks of western central
Africa, and elsewhere).
Manganese “caps” of weathering crusts are developed also in many deposits in regions with a
humid climate (Urals, Siberia, etc.); however, in terms of the scale of development of zones with rich
contents of manganese, these are substantially inferior to those of the near-equatorial deposits.
Significant resources of manganese are contained in ferromanganese concretions of modern oce-
anic sediments. Their extraction under current circumstances remains nonviable.