Transalloys
is a well-recognized supplier of silicomanganese and medium carbon ferromanganese globally, and the only silicomanganese producer in South Africa. The production plant is situated 14 km west of eMalahleni (Witbank) and approximately 90 km east of Pretoria, in the Mpumalanga Province. Manganese ore used in the production process comes from the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, which is known to contain 75% of the world’s identified manganese ore reserves.
Smelter and capacity:
The smelter complex company was acquired in 2007, and as a result of the concerted effort by the Transalloys’ management team and the employees, the productivity and output of the plant were increased by 50% without the addition of any additional smelting capacity. The plant has the capacity to produce approximately 180 000 tonnes of manganese ferroalloys per annum. The plant itself dates back to the mid-1960’s when the first two furnaces were built, with three more furnaces being added over the following three decades. Currently, there are 5 submerged arc furnaces, with capacity ranging between 22 and 48 MVA. Transalloys has completed the construction and commissioning of a UHT oxygen blown converter during Q3 of 2020. Typically, one of the SiMn furnaces is periodically converted to HCFeMn production, which serves as feedstock to the converter for conversion to MCFeMn, which is then produced on a campaign basis.
Grades:
The standard grade silicomanganese contains a minimum of 16.5% of silicon, 65 to 67% of manganese and a maximum of 2% carbon. Medium carbon ferromanganese contains a minimum of 80 % manganese, less than 1.5 % carbon and less than 1.0 % silicon.
