Can metals that naturally occur in seawater be mined, and can they be mined sustainably?
Can metals that naturally occur in seawater be mined, and can they be mined sustainably? A company in Oakland, California, says yes. And not only is it extracting magnesium from ocean water — and from waste brine generated by industry — it is doing it in a carbon-neutral way. Magrathea Metals has produced small amounts of magnesium in pilot projects, and with financial support from the U.S. Defense Department, it is building a larger-scale facility to produce about 200 tons of the metal a year. By 2028, it says it plans to be operating a facility that will annually produce more than 11,000 tons.
Magnesium is far lighter and stronger than steel, and it’s critical to the aircraft, automobile, steel, and defense industries, which is why the government has bankrolled the venture. Right now, China produces about 85 percent of the world’s magnesium in a dirty, carbon-intensive process. Finding a way to produce magnesium domestically using renewable energy, then, is not only an economic and environmental issue, it’s a strategic one. “With a flick of a finger, China could shut down steelmaking in the U.S. by ending the export of magnesium,” said Alex Grant, Magrathea’s CEO and an expert in the field of decarbonizing the production of metals.
Read more at: Yale Environment 360
A system for testing technology to draw minerals from seawater at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Sequim, Washington. (Photo Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
