The Bolzano process is a means to reduce magnesium to metallic form. "Dolomite-ferrosilicon briquettes are stacked on a special charge support system through which internal electric heating is conducted to the charge. A complete reaction takes 20 to 24 hours at 1,200 °C."
In 2014, Brazilian operations produced 10-15 kilotons of Mg by this process.
Also in 2014, Nevada Clean Magnesium announced its Tami-Mosi plan to create a ASTM B-92 pilot plant. The mineral resource is estimated at 412 billion tons of 12.3% grade Mg. The company produced its first ingot from a pilot plant in December 2018.
References
- Logerot, J. M.; Moyen, J. (December 1982). "Magnesium Production Methods - Raw Materials and Availability" (PDF). LIGHT METAL AGE.
- Barcza, Nic; Freeman, Mike; Schoukens, Albert (6 July 2000). "Thermal magnesium: is it economically viable?". 2nd Annual Australian Magnesium Conference 2000.
- Buğdayci, Mehmet; Turan, Ahmet; Alkan, Murat; Yücel, Onuralp (2019). "Magnesium Production from Calcined Dolomite via the Pidgeon Process". Magnesium and Its Alloys. pp. 47–56. doi:10.1201/9781351045476-3. ISBN 9781351045476. S2CID 202216899.
- Aghion, Eli; Golub, Gilad (2006). "Production Technologies of Magnesium". Magnesium Technology. pp. 29–62. doi:10.1007/3-540-30812-1_2. ISBN 3-540-20599-3.
- Tian, Yang; Wang, Lipeng; Yang, Bin; Dai, Yongnian; Xu, Baoqiang; Wang, Fei; Xiong, Neng (2020). "Comparative evaluation of energy and resource consumption for vacuum carbothermal reduction and Pidgeon process used in magnesium production". Journal of Magnesium and Alloys. 10 (3): 697–706. doi:10.1016/j.jma.2020.09.024.
- Hanusa, Timothy P. "Bolzano process". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- Johnson, MC; Sullivan, JL (September 2014). "Lightweight Materials for Automotive Application" (PDF). No. ANL/ESD–14/7. US Department of Energy. Argonne National Laboratory.
- "Nevada Clean Magnesium Engages Silvertip Design NW to Design Pilot Reduction Furnace Design for Tami-Mosi Project in Nevada". investorintel.com. 19 February 2014.
- "United States Snapshot: Ten companies with projects on the go in the USA". Vol. 105, no. 4. NORTHERN MINER. 14 February 2019.