The selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia was carried out in the presence of natural manganese ore (NMO) and manganese as catalysts using a homemade 1/4" reactor at 10,000 hr-1 of space velocity. The inlet ammonia concentration was maintained at 2,000 ppm, with an air balance. The manganese catalyst resulted in a substantial ammonia conversion, with adsorption activation energies of oxygen and ammonia of 10.5 and 22.7 kcal/mol, respectively. Both T50 and T90, defined as the temperatures where 50% and 90% of ammonia, respectively, are converted, decreased significantly when alumina-supported manganese catalyst was applied. Increasing the manganese weight percent by 15 wt% increased the lower temperature activity, but 20 wt% of manganese had an adverse effect on the reaction results. An important finding of the study was that the manganese catalyst benefits from a strong sulfur tolerance in the conversion of ammonia to nitrogen.