Rather than sequestering carbon dioxide from the exhaust of chemical looping combustion reactors, together with the water, it could be used as a source of syngas. For the first time, we split water to hydrogen and carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide with a manganese ore. Specific CO production is 10-100 times higher than Sr, Ce, and Fe doped perovskites and Y0.5Sr0.5MnO3 perovskites. At a contact time of 0.01 s and at temperatures ranging from 810-960 degrees C the maximum specific CO production was 5.5 molkg-1. A combined kinetic-axial dispersion hydrodynamic model accounts for 97 % of the variance in the data assuming the reaction rate is first-order in CO2 and surface reduced sites and in equilibrium with the reverse reactiona first-order reaction in CO with surface oxidized sites. A second reaction accounts for the diffusion of surface oxygen to the bulk lattice. Hydrogen productivity peaked at 4.8 molkg-1 at 947 degrees C, which is twice as high as reported in previous studies on CoFe2O4 and Al2O3 in the hercynite cycle.