Magnesium: Extraction
Plenty of ore; the challenge is energy
What this tab covers How it is mined, drilled or grown, and processed into a tradeable form: the main methods compared, their unit economics, by-products, and the companies that do this work globally and in India.Magnesium makes up about 2.48% of the upper continental crust (Hayes & McCullough, pdf p. 6), so supply turns on energy and processing, not ore. Metal comes from dolomite or magnesite reduced with ferrosilicon in the coal-fired Pidgeon process, which dominates in China. It can also come from electrolysis of magnesium chloride from brines, as in Israel and formerly Utah. Magnesite is also calcined into magnesia for refractories, chemicals and farming. Magnesite ore tonnage is therefore a related but distinct measure from metal output. Magnesium is mostly a primary product, with companionality only about 5%.
Primary magnesium is made in two ways. The Pidgeon process heats calcined dolomite with ferrosilicon in small retorts under vacuum, so magnesium vapour condenses as crowns. It needs little capital but a lot of coal and labour, and it let China take over world supply from the 1990s. Electrolysis of molten magnesium chloride from brines or from titanium sponge plants is more capital-intensive and is now used only in Israel, Russia and Kazakhstan. A large share of supply in the West is secondary metal from scrap. Magnesite, mined mostly in China, is calcined into magnesia for refractories and chemicals.
Methods compared
| Method | Share of supply | Typical scale | Recovery / efficiency | By-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silicothermic reduction of dolomite (Pidgeon process) | about 86% of world primary output (China 950 kt of 1,100 kt in 2025, USGS); most Chinese output uses this route | Fugu county in Yulin, Shaanxi, had 35 producers and Yulin city more than 50 in 2021 (Argus); China's capacity was 1,480 kt in 2025 (USGS) | n/a | slag used in cement | n/a |
| Electrolysis of magnesium chloride (brines, seawater, titanium-plant chloride) | about 8.5% of world primary output (Israel 20 kt, Russia 60 kt, Kazakhstan 13 kt in 2025, USGS) | the US electrolytic smelter in Utah (brines from the Great Salt Lake) stopped production in 2022 and its operator filed for Chapter 11 in September 2025 (USGS) | n/a | chlorine; at brine plants, salts and deicing products | n/a |
| Secondary magnesium from scrap | US 2025: 110 kt secondary (26 kt from old scrap, 82 kt from new scrap) against 40 kt reported primary consumption; EU end-of-life recycling input rate 13% (EU CRM 2023) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Magnesite mining and calcination to magnesia | China mined 12.7 Mt of the world's 21 Mt of magnesite in 2025 (USGS) | Liaoning province cut magnesite-mining enterprises from 114 (2020) to 63 (2024), aiming for 56 by end-2025 (USGS) | n/a | CO2 released in calcining | n/a |
How each method works
Silicothermic reduction of dolomite (Pidgeon process)Dolomite is calcined, ground with ferrosilicon and fluorspar, pressed into briquettes and heated in horizontal steel retorts under vacuum. Magnesium vapour condenses at the cool end of the retort; crowns are removed and remelted into ingot. Plants cluster near coal and ferrosilicon supplies in Shaanxi and Shanxi.
Low capital and flexible; coal-intensive, exposed to energy and emissions controls, and highly concentrated in one region.
USGS MCS 2026; Argus (Sept 2021) Electrolysis of magnesium chloride (brines, seawater, titanium-plant chloride)Purified anhydrous magnesium chloride is electrolysed in molten-salt cells; magnesium metal floats and is tapped, and chlorine is recycled. In Russia and Kazakhstan, cells are integrated with titanium sponge plants, which return magnesium chloride from the Kroll process.
Lower emissions where power is clean; high capital cost and hard to compete with Chinese Pidgeon metal.
USGS MCS 2026 Secondary magnesium from scrapClean die-casting returns and turnings are remelted under flux or protective gas; much magnesium is also recovered within aluminium alloy scrap and stays in the aluminium.
Uses far less energy than primary; limited by scrap quality and contamination.
USGS MCS 2026; EU CRM study 2023 Magnesite mining and calcination to magnesiaMagnesite (magnesium carbonate) is mined in open pits, crushed and burnt: at moderate temperatures to caustic-calcined magnesia, at higher temperatures to dead-burned magnesia, or melted in arc furnaces to fused magnesia for refractories.
Large reserves (7.8 Bt); supply tightly managed by Chinese provincial policy.
USGS MCS 2026, Magnesium Compounds Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs vary widely by deposit, region and year.Share produced as a by-product
About 5% of primary supply comes as a by-product (Nassar, Graedel & Harper 2015, approximate).Who does it: global
| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fugu and Yulin producers (Shaanxi, China) Individual company volumes not published; Yulin is China's main magnesium hub. | China | Pidgeon smelters, about 35 in Fugu county | not published | 2021 | Argus (Sept 2021) |
| Dead Sea Magnesium Company volume not published; Israel's 2025 output was 20 kt. | Israel | electrolytic magnesium from Dead Sea carnallite | not published | 2025 | USGS MCS 2026 (Israel 20 kt; 47% of US 99.8% metal imports 2021-24) |
| VSMPO-AVISMA and Solikamsk Magnesium Works Company volumes not published. | Russia | electrolytic magnesium, linked to titanium sponge | not published | 2025 | USGS MCS 2026 (Russia 60 kt) |
| Ust-Kamenogorsk Titanium and Magnesium Plant (UKTMP) Company volume not published. | Kazakhstan | electrolytic magnesium and titanium sponge | not published | 2025 | USGS MCS 2026 (Kazakhstan 13 kt) |
| RIMA Industrial Company volume not published. | Brazil | primary magnesium and alloys | not published | 2025 | USGS MCS 2026 (Brazil 20 kt) |
| US Magnesium | US | electrolytic smelter in Utah (idle since 2022) | 0 kt Mg primary | 2025 | USGS MCS 2026 (operator filed for Chapter 11 in September 2025) |
Who does it: India
India makes no primary magnesium metal and imported about 37,000 t of HS 8104 magnesium and articles worth $108 million in 2024, 5.5% of world imports (Comtrade). It mined 85 kt of magnesite in 2025 and holds 66 Mt of reserves (USGS). Magnesium was not on India's 2023 critical minerals list.