Using manganese increases the strength and hardness of steel and...

Using manganese increases the strength and hardness of steel and its heat resistance. It is one of the essential alloys that helps convert iron into steel and decreases the brittleness of steel.

ASX-listed nickel explorer Estrella Resources is one Australian company that is looking outside our island for manganese and was tenacious enough recently to secure one of the first ever exploration permits in Timor-Leste (formally East Timor).

Estrella has attracted interest from market punters recently with several head-turning announcements of super high-grade manganese discovered in the South East Asian country.

On November 18, it revealed a new supergene manganese discovery in Timor Leste, with a three-metre-high bed of outcropping manganese discovered during reconnaissance mapping.

Using a portable-XRF machine on crushed samples, high-grades of 57.5 per cent and 63.4 per cent manganese were recorded, some of the highest grades encountered to date.

The company’s new Ira Miri prospect lies across the river valley to the east about 4.4km southeast of its Sica ground. At Sica, it unearthed in situ supergene manganese in the hills surrounding the prospect.

Management says it is planning follow-up geophysical surveys for the two areas that sit within the manganese-rich Lautém municipality of Timor-Leste.

Caption - High-grade manganese has been found by ASX-listed explorer Estrella Resources in the southeast Asian country of Timor-Leste. Credit: File