MANGANESE ORE MINING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A005400040007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 6, 2007
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: December 1, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
This asatsl1ai contains information affecting the Na-
tional Delano of the United States within the mean-
ing of the NPAoaase laws, Title 1e, U.S.C. Secs. 793
Wd Tft 0e USDJ tiesion or revelation of which in
at4 eiatAWr to an Ynauthdrlaed arson Is prohibited
1 taw.
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
COUNTRY Hungary
SUBJECT }Ianganese Ore Mining
REAQRT
WE OIOER. 1 December 1954
NO. Of PANS
REQU A NT NO. RD
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OP CONTENT IS TENTATWE. (FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
1. Hungary has two manganese mines working; one at"Urkut and the other at p1eny.
Only the mine at Urkut is of importance.
2. In 1952-53, at the request of the Hungarian Government, large scale manganese
prospect ing was carried out in the Bakony mountains, and in the neighborhood of
Egerdemjen, near the town of Eger.
3. Manganese Mine of Urkut.
a. This mine is about 20 km. west of Veszprem. Mining started in 1917. In the
1930's production dropped considerably but during the war went into full swing
again. After the war the mine was taken over by the Russians as representing
German property, but in 1952 it was handed over to the Hungarian Government in
exchange for the bauxite industry.
b. The mine has two vertical shafts and one sloping shaft.
(1) Shaft No. 1 is the oldest. In 1953 the area of this shaft was exhausted
and dismantling of the shaft began.
(2) Shaft No. 2 is showing signs of exhaustion. It has only one pair of
rails leading into it and is supported with timber only. It yields no more
than one quarter of the entire production.
(3) Shaft No. 3 was sunk after the war. It is a modern double concrete-
lined shaft, depth 140 meters. Most of the output comes from here. The
main communication gallery which goes into the eastern part of the mine
starts from this shaft. (See Annex 3).
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
(NOTE: Washington dIMribofion Indicoled by "X"; field dislribWien by "#".)
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
 Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
-2-
(4) A sloping shaft is under construction which will facilitate the mining
of about 150,000 tons of ore left in the pillar of shaft No. 1.
c, Types of Ore.
(1) In the Urkut mine two types of ore are to be found, At present only
one type is mined. This is the black, oxide-type ore. The minerals
of this ore are pyrolusite and psilomelane. In its crude state the
ore contains about 18% to 20% SiO2. In the process of washing two
thirds of the ore are lost with the water, consequently only one third
of the mined quantity reaches the furnace. Much of the small grained
ore is left in the mud after washing; this is separated with the
hydrocyclone which was set up a year ago. Afterwards the fine grained
ore is put into the furnace together with the lumps of ore that were
obtained through washing.
(2) In 1953 a new type of ore deposit was located on the western fringe
of the old field. It is a mineral assembly characterized by carbonates
of a whitish-grey color. The minerals are rhodochrosite and some
oligonite (sic) (MnC03 and MnFeCO3). The ore has 21% - 30% Mn, Fe and 6% - 25% SiO . It is not 4-6%
2 yet being mined.
(3) The oxide-type ore is generally 1.5-5 meters thick. The new type of
ore, characterized by carbonates, is 13-38 meters thick. The oxide ore
is at a depth of 70-180 meters in the areas where it is being mined or
where its position has been ascertained by exploratory borings. The
carbonate ore has been prospected down to 150-280 meters. It is
irregularly deposited and has a dip of 120-200. (A diagram of the
strata in the mine is given at Annex 4).
d. Production Data.
1953 - raw ore (oxide) 227,000 tons; washed ore - about 70,000 tons
1954 - (planned) - raw ore (oxide) 250,000 tons
e. Reserves of the Ore.
Oxide ore - 2 million tons
Carbonate ore - 35 to 40 million tons
f. Exploitation.
(1) The raw ore is transported to the washing plant by trolleys. The
washing plant has a simple mechanical enriching system. The ore is
ground in several stages and then washed with water. This plant was
built by the Germans. The enriched ore is separated into three dif-
ferent grain sizes; what is left goes into the hydrocyclone, where
the very small grains of ore are separated from the mud and clay by
the whirling water.
(2) The products of the washing plant and the hydrocyclone are transported
by trolleys, drawn by small steam and diesel engines, to Felsocsinger.
Here the ore is loaded into railroad cars; the greater part goes to
dzd, the remainder to Sztalinv&ros,
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
 Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
-3-
(3)
The ore is used for various purposes in the steel industry. Mostly
only finished products (melted ferro-manganese) are exported. The
main importing country is Czechoslovakia. Recently some ore has also
been sent there,
Mechanization of the Mine.
(1) The ore is hewed without .barges, by means of pressure hammers.
Charges are only used when a new cutting has to be opened in the lime-
stone. All the transport cuttings are in the limestone underneath
the ore seams, because no timber and lining is required here.
(2) There are no hewing machines in the mine. The ore is mostly trans-
ported to the heads of the main transport cuttings by hand; only in
five or six cuttings is there a short transport belt for the taking
away of the ore. In shaft No. 3, in the main transport cutting, the
trolleys are moved by a circular rope; in shaft No. 2 they are drawn
by horses. Mining is done from chambers at every 25-50 meters.
(3) There is no serious da er of flooding in the mine. The average daily
flow of water is 1.2 m /min.
h. Leading Personalities.
Manager - Marton Rieger
Chief Engineer - Georgieff D. Trojan
i. Manpower
There are about 50 administrative staff and 1,100 miners.
4.
Manganese Mine of Epleny.
a. This mine is about 13 km. north of Veszprem. It was opened about 1930.
It is a very small mine with only one main horizontal shaft with a small
pit at the end of it. This pit has a mechanical counter-weighted lift.
From the pit several shafts open out, with 20 meters difference in levels.
All these shafts are cut along the strike.
b, The ore of Epleny has 23%-28% Mn, 5-10% Fe and 20%-27% S102. It is of the
oxide type. It is sent direct to the furnace without any washing. The
thickness of the seam is 1.2 m - 2 in. The ore deposit has a dip of 15?-
22?.' There is no danger of flooding in the mine.
c. The trolleys are drawn by horses to the railroad station. Hewing is done
by pressure hammers only.
d. Production Data.
1953 - 48,000 tons
1954 (planned) - 30,000 tons
e. Reserves,.
300,000 tons.
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
 Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
-4-
f. Leading Personalities.
Manager - Istvan Kisbajcsy
Technical Director - Matyas Labudek
g. Manpower,
There are about 30 administrative staff and 100 miners.
5. Manganese Prospecting,
a. The large scale prospecting carried out in 1952-53 in the Bakony mountains
revealed some 300,000 additional tons of oxide ore at the Epl&ny mine,
without which the mine would have been exhausted, some 500,000 tons of
oxide ore at Urkut, and the 35,000,000 to 40,000,000 tons of carbonate
ore at Urkut. (See paragraph 3 c (2).
b. Prospecting was by means of 25 exploratory borings from 150 to 250 meters
deep in the neighborhood of Borzavar and Lckut. Exploration was continuing
in June 1954.
c. Further prospecting near Eger, at Egerdemjan, revealed ma.nnrnege deposits
with only 5% to 12% manganese content, which are not worth exploiting.
6. Future Prospects.
a. The newly discovered carbonate type of manganese ore (35 to 40 million
tons around Urkut) is the largest manganese deposit in Europe. Previously
this type of ore was thought to exist only in the USSR,
b. The Hungarian Government hopeseventually to mine 400,000 tons of this
carbonate ore a year. The oxide ore of which the reserves, as has been
stated, are not very large, will not,be used for the production of alloys
for which the carbonate ore can be used, but only for the production of
ferromanganese, for which the carbonate ore cannot be employed. The
Government intends to mine only 50,000 tons a year of the oxides, which
they estimate will be enough to meet internal requirements in ferro-
manganese and allow for increased export of ferro-manganese finished
products for the purpose of earning foreign currency.
c. Present transport facilities are not adequate for an extensive mining of the
carbonate ore. It is therefore intended to connect Urkut to Ajka with a
new railroad line. Since the carbonate ore loses some of its_weight after
roasting and increases in manganese content, it has been decided to roast
the ore at the mine, and thus facilitate transport. A roasting plant will,
therefore, be built at Urkut.
d. It is estimated that the above plans are unlikely to be implemented
before 1956.
Annexes: 1. Area of manganese mines and prospecting (1 page)
2. Urkut manganese mine (1 page)
3. Shaft No. 3 at Urkut (1 page)
4. Diagram of th3 strata at Urkut (1 page)
SECRET/U:S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
 Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-00810A005400040007-4
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
-5-
Annex 1:
Area of Hungarian Manganese Mines and
ospecting in 9 -
Szepalma psz.
U kut
40
fl
Gyertydnkut
Herend
Szentgal
0 = Prospecting Sites.
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
i
Borzavar
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-00810A005400040007-4
 A_ Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
-- c ggauese mine
Ajka
old shallow manganese mine
shaft No3
,cable washing point
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
 Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
Annex 3:
.
SECR,T/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
_7_
Shaft No. 3 at Urkut
I? 1. Main transport shaft.
2. Engines at end of rope
3. Automatic trolley-pusher
It. Pit
5. Signals
6. Cistern
7. Co:npregsor space
8. Escape shaft
9. Pump chamber
10. Bay shaft
II. 1. Concrete bricks
2. Electric cable
3. Mine railway
It. Water chuinels
5. Pressur:izfsd air pipe
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
 Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-00810A005400040007-4
SECRET/U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
-8-
Annex Its Diagram of the Strata at Urkut
SECRST/U.S. OFFICIAL ONLY
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-00810A005400040007-4
 Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4
Approved For Release 2007/08/07: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005400040007-4