We follow the step-by-step progression of events while approaching the Curie temperatureTCfrom below using57Cosubstituent as a microprobe in an emission Mo¨ssbauer study combined with resistivity measurements. In the temperature range0.33<T/TC⩽1,the material consists of a mixture of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic regions within the same matrix. An increase of the amount of paramagnetic fraction is accompanied by a decrease in electron delocalization in the ferromagnetic regions. AtT⩾TC,the electrons are localized to neighboringMn4+/Mn3+pairs only, in about 46&percent; of the paramagnetic species. The strength with which Mn atoms are bound to the neighbors also decreases progressively and rather steeply in the range0.65⩽T/TC=1.Zero field resistivity,&rgr;0,follows linearly with the amount of the paramagnetic phase in the range0.65⩽T/TC⩽1and still shows metal-like behavior up toT/TC=1.03.©1997 American Institute of Physics.