Geochemical and Geostatistical Analysis of Manganese Mineralization in the Kulu Area (Central Anatolia, Konya, Türkiye)

Manganese is a raw material of increasing strategic importance owing not only to its fundamental role in steel production but also to its use in battery technologies, chemical processes, environmental applications, and advanced industrial fields. With the ongoing energy transition, the growing demand for battery-grade manganese has made it increasingly important to reassess the geological, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics of manganese occurrences that are known from limited data. In this study, the manganese mineralization observed in the Kulu–Kozanlı area of Central Anatolia was investigated using field observations, ore microscopy, XRD, SEM–EDS, major oxide and trace element geochemistry, and spatial data based on sampling locations. Major oxide and trace element data indicate that manganese enrichment is not homogeneous and is concentrated in specific zones. The results of Spearman correlation, PCA, HCA, and factor analysis reveal a clear opposition between MnO and SiO2, whereas MnO tends to increase together with Cu, Ba, V, Ga, and Sr. XRD, SEM–EDS, and ore microscopy findings show that the mineralization is mainly represented by a Mn oxide/oxyhydroxide assemblage composed of manganite and pyrolusite, with local braunite. When all findings are evaluated together, the Kulu manganese mineralization is interpreted as a lithologically heterogeneous Mn mineralization associated with radiolarite/chert and carbonate–cherty levels within the Dereköy ophiolitic mélange and consistent with hydrothermal influence.