Magrathea Launches Next-Gen Magnesium Production Technology, Advances Plans to Scale
San Francisco, 28 May 2025 - Magrathea, a company developing innovative technology for the production of carbon neutral light metal from seawater, has launched its next-generation magnesium chloride electrolyzer, a machine that uses electricity to split magnesium salts to make magnesium metal, at its pilot facility in Oakland, California.
This milestone is a crucial step to advance the technical and data framework for a future scaled plant. Additionally, the project strategically positions Magrathea’s technology to provide American companies with access to U.S.-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,” Alex Grant, CEO of Magrathea, said. “Western nations must view this supply crisis as a national security emergency.”
“At our core, Magrathea’s innovative technology revitalizes a proven process with our own twist for considerable efficiency improvement and expense reduction,” Mr. Grant continued. “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 our technology as the first new commercial-scale magnesium electrolyzer in the United States in the past 50 years.”
Over the coming months, Magrathea will 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. The Company will focus on obtaining process data, minimizing total electricity use, recycling energy in strategic ways and optimizing the dehydration process, which offers the biggest opportunity for cost reduction in the electrolytic magnesium metal production process.
These technical efforts are expected to significantly reduce the carbon footprint and operating expenditure of future commercial plants. The data and key processing learnings are also expected to help streamline permitting processes for future facilities given the inherent environmental benefits of the technology.
About Magrathea
Magrathea is a technology company based in California developing a new generation of electrolytic process for making carbon neutral metal from seawater and brines for the era of deglobalization and decarbonization. For media inquiries, please contact media@magratheametals.com.
The business wire version of this article can be found here.