The company noted on Tuesday that no permanent employees would be retrenched as a result of the temporary suspension.  South32, in its capacity as manager of the 60:40 Samancor Manganese joint venture (JV) with Anglo American, was also engaging with freight logistics group Transnet to secure access to the rail and port capacity required to export additional manganese ore from its South African mining operations; however, export volumes would remain dependent on market conditions. The company confirmed that a review of the fair value of its interest in the Samancor Manganese JV was also under way. The process was expected to have implications for the fair value adjustment required pursuant to the conclusion of the amended and restated umbrella agreement governing the JV.  Samancor Manganese was the world’s largest producer of manganese with operations in South Africa and Australia. Its Australian operations include Gemco, an opencut manganese mine in the Northern Territory, ranked as the largest and one of the world’s lowest cost manganese ore producers, and Temco, a manganese alloy plant in Tasmania. The JV’s African operations included the Hotazel manganese mine located in the Kalahari basin in the Northern Cape, a region that held 80% of the world’s manganese resource endowment.