California start-up launches next-generation magnesium production technology
me-metals: Magrathea, a California-based start-up developing technology to produce carbon neutral light metal from seawater, has launched its next-generation magnesium chloride electrolyzer to split magnesium salts to make magnesium metal at its pilot facility in Oakland.
According to me-metals cited from mining.com, The launch is a component of its plans to establish the first new commercial-scale magnesium electrolyzer in the United States in the past 50 years, the US Department of Defense-backed company said.
Magnesium unlocks a wide range of applications, such as stiffening aluminum in alloys, steel making, nuclear inputs, automotive, aerospace, and next-generation defense applications.
Russia and China currently control 90% of the global primary magnesium supply and there is no significant producer in any NATO country.
The company said this milestone is a crucial step to advance the technical and data framework for a future scaled plant, adding that the project positions Magrathea’s technology to provide American companies with access to US-based critical mineral supply chains amid shifting trade policies and export controls.
“Magnesium is one of the most important critical materials, but NATO countries face a dire shortage of non-China supply,” CEO Alex Grant said in a news release.
“At our core, Magrathea’s innovative technology revitalizes a proven process with our own twist for considerable efficiency improvement and expense reduction,” Grant said. “We expect to reduce the technology’s operating expenses to make it cost-competitive with alternative production methods that exist today, including in China.”
Magrathea is in conversations with several major defense, chemical and mining industrial players to form a strategic partnership to scale up it technology, it said.
Over the coming months, the company plans to use data gathered from the pilot-scale electrolyzer to create a scalable technical model aimed at achieving the highest efficiencies from both environmental and economic perspectives.
source: mining.com
Related News
Two Days ago
Top News
One last month
Four last month
Terra Metals, Metalex seal $100M deal to form copper-cobalt partnership in Zambia
Gold price rebounds to $3,300 as market digests court ruling on Trump tariffs
Nigeria to open two Chinese-backed lithium processing plants this year
Gold price falls almost 1% on Trump’s EU tariff delay
Glencore’s $22B assets shift sets stage for mining mega-merger
COMEX copper stocks exceed LME for first time since 2022
Glencore’s $22B assets shift sets stage for mining mega-merger
Trump to double steel, aluminum tariffs to aid Nippon-US Steel
Fortuna Mining buys 15% of Awalé Resources
AngloGold sells Brazil’s Serra Grande mine to Aura for $76M
Gold price surges near one-month peak as geopolitical risks mount
Trump to double steel, aluminum tariffs to aid Nippon-US Steel
American Tungsten kicks off construction at Ima project in Idaho
California start-up launches next-generation magnesium production technology
Lynas signs deal to secure rare earth feed in Malaysia
Tungsten’s emerging supply chain
Paladin Energy faces second lawsuit over slashed uranium forecast
Gold price drops 1% following Trump comments, inflation data
Glencore’s $22B assets shift sets stage for mining mega-merger
AngloGold sells Brazil’s Serra Grande mine to Aura for $76M
Gold price surges near one-month peak as geopolitical risks mount
Trump to double steel, aluminum tariffs to aid Nippon-US Steel
American Tungsten kicks off construction at Ima project in Idaho
California start-up launches next-generation magnesium production technology
Lynas signs deal to secure rare earth feed in Malaysia
Tungsten’s emerging supply chain
Paladin Energy faces second lawsuit over slashed uranium forecast
Gold price drops 1% following Trump comments, inflation data