Manganese(II) sulfide Manganese(II) sulfide Manganese(II) sulfide is a chemical compound of manganese and sulfur. It occurs in nature as the mineral alabandite (isometric), rambergite (hexagonal), and recently found browneite (isometric, with sphalerite-type structure, extremely rare, known only from a meteorite). Manganese(II) sulfide can be prepared by reacting a manganese(II) salt (such as manganese(II) chloride) with ammonium sulfide: The crystal structure of manganese(II) sulfide is similar to that of sodium chloride. The pink color of MnS likely results from poor coupling between the lowest energy unoccupied Mn orbitals, resulting in discrete states rather than a delocalized band. Thus the lowest energy band-to-band electronic
Manganese as rhodochrosite (MnCO). The most important manganese ore is pyrolusite (MnO). Other economically important manganese ores usually show a close spatial relation to the iron ores. Land-based resources are large but irregularly distributed. About 80% of the known world manganese resources are in South Africa; other important manganese deposits are in Ukraine, Australia, India, China, Gabon and Brazil. According to 1978 estimate, the ocean floor has 500 billion tons of manganese nodules. Attempts to find economically viable methods of harvesting manganese nodules were abandoned in the 1970s. The CIA once used mining manganese modules on the ocean floor as a