Fiji’S New Manganese
p. 52 · Read in the full issue
Industry
Fill’s infant manganese industry is having transport problems— in getting the ore from the mines to Fiji’s highways and in getting it from Fiji to world centres where it
is in demand—mostly the United Kingdom or Japan.
Up to date, there have been no deposits discovered that merit large scale working and producers have shipped the ore in its crudest state.
At present, some experiments are being made in treating the ore so
that it will be suitable for hardening steel—the crude Fiji product is used only in the chemical section of the market.
Fiji manganese is worth about £l6 per ton, which price does not allow much margin for freight. The only possibility as far as export to the UK is concerned is by copra ship? using the Panama Canal—all other means are prohibitive. Shipment is now made in drums, but if pro duction could be stepped up it might be possible to ship in bulk.
The largest shipment so far has gone to Japan—over 1,000 tons this January. Last year only 631 tons were shipped in all—mainly to the United Kingdom.