Magnesium Technology

Magnesium is ‘virtually inexhaustible’

There are currently no primary producers in North America to support vital industries such as:

  • Light-weight structural components for vehicles, aircraft, and portable electronics
  • Aluminum alloys
  • Steel processing
  • Munitions and incendiaries for national defense

The magnesium metal production industry is in a period of profound price and supply volatility. Yet, magnesium is ‘virtually inexhaustible’ as a raw material resource in land-based deposits, brines, and seawater.

Projects looking to exploit ores, past and present, have confronted a lack of process technology options and consistently underestimate challenges in scaling and safe operation.

Aluminothermal Reduction (ATR)

Our Process

Big Blue Technologies has tested several different chemistries in a variety of reactor and condenser designs.

With over 10 years of pivots, engineering, and scaling, we have evolved a new process iteration centered on aluminothermal reduction.

ATR Process

The ATR process reacts a magnesium-bearing ore with aluminum to produce metal and a value-add byproduct. When MgO is used, magnesium aluminate spinel is co-produced. Magnesium aluminate spinel is critical for high-performance refractories.

4MgO + 2Al = 3Mg + MgAl2O4

When MgO-CaO is used, the co-product is calcium aluminate:

3MgO + 3CaO + 2Al = 3Mg + Ca3Al2O6

Both of these ATR chemistries have been validated in our pilot facility

Calcium aluminate is critical to the new age of decarbonized cements, mortars, and refractories. Energy consumption for MgO-to-ingot production is < 8 kWh/kg Mg, or 75% lower than Pidgeon or electrolytic techniques. When using post-consumer aluminum scrap, BBT’s ATR process represents the lowest energy intensity and emissions impact of any magnesium metal production process.

Chinese Pidgeon Dominates

About 85% of the world’s magnesium is currently made in China using the Pidgeon process. Pidgeon is characterized by silicothermal reduction performed batch-wise in retorts. About 50 million batches are performed annually, producing 20 kg of metal per batch cycle.

China’s mining, labor, and energy rates are highly subsidized to drive the cost floor far below their competitors. Because of Pidgeon’s high energy and labor burden, this process is prohibitively expensive to implement in Europe and North America. However, the low initial capital cost of Pidgeon plants makes them attractive for rapid implementation.

Due to the global supply imbalance and the environmental impact of Pidgeon processes, the need for new, low-capital alternatives has never been more vital.

Electrolytic Processes

Electrolysis of magnesium chloride is performed industrially in Israel, Russia, and China. Electrolytic processes require enormous capital investments, chlorine gas handling operations, and expensive dehydration techniques.

North America has witnessed five major electrolytic plant closures or failures over the past 30 years. The latest casualty is also one of the EPA’s Superfund sites. Total global market share for electrolytic processes has fallen from over 75% to ~10% since 1998.

Despite the conceptual attractiveness of electrolytic technologies, the practical implementations have all fallen short.