About Magnesium

Some technical details and brief overiew about magnesium: ​

The Element
Symbol: Mg
Name: Magnesium
Atomic number: 12
Relative atomic mass: 24,305
Valency: 2
Relative density: 1.738
Melting point: 651°
Boiling point: 1107°
Crystal structure: Close packed hexagonal (a=3.2030 c= 5.2002)

​Source
Where Magnesium can be retrieved:

• In the Earth's crust (~ 2.5%): minerals such as carnallite (KCl·MgCl2·6H2O) and dolomite (CaCO3·MgCO3).
• In the Oceans, MgCl2 (~ 0.13% - 1.3 kg per m3 of seawater)

Production
Worldwide production of Metallic Magnesium: 600'000 T/year (80% in China)

Processes
Two fundamental processes:

1. Thermal reduction (Pidgeon process, mainly used in China): reduction of calcined Dolomite with ferrosilicon
   
2. Electrolytic reduction of MgCl