In June 1976 a 600'tonne/day manganese ore sinter machine, with on-strand cooling, was commissioned at the plant of Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company Pty. Ltd. at Bell Bay, Tasmania. This machine was installed in order to utilize manganese lump ore screenings generated in the preparation of raw materials prior to charging to the electric smelting furnaces at Bell Bay._x000D_
Since commissioning, trial sintering of a number of different grades of manganese ore fines from Groote Eylandt Mining Company Pty._x000D_
Ltd, has been conducted and suitable sinter has been produced from these different grades. The sinter produced is used as part of the furnace burden in both ferro manganese production and silico manganese production._x000D_
The inclusion of sinter as part of the charge in the production of ferro manganese has considerably improved furnace operating conditions and performance.