Manganese easy to oxidize. Manganese metal and its common ions are paramagnetic. Manganese tarnishes slowly in air and oxidizes ("rusts") like iron in water containing dissolved oxygen. Naturally occurring manganese is composed of one stable isotope, Mn. Eighteen radioisotopes have been isolated and described, ranging in atomic weight from 46 u (Mn) to 65 u (Mn). The most stable are Mn with a half-life of 3.7 million years, Mn with a half-life of 312.3 days, and Mn with a half-life of 5.591 days. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives of less than three hours, and the majority of less
Manganese recovery of the manganese. For further purification, the manganese can then be sent to an electrowinning facility. In 1972 the CIA's Project Azorian, through billionaire Howard Hughes, commissioned the ship "Hughes Glomar Explorer" with the cover story of harvesting manganese nodules from the sea floor. That triggered a rush of activity to collect manganese nodules, which was not actually practical. The real mission of "Hughes Glomar Explorer" was to raise a sunken Soviet submarine, the K-129, with the goal of retrieving Soviet code books. Manganese has no satisfactory substitute in its major applications in metallurgy. In minor applications, (e.g., manganese