management for the planned
25,000-ton-per-year magnesium plant,
scheduled to be completed in 1995. If
expansion is warranted, construction of a
second 25,000-ton-per-year phase is
scheduled for 1998. A foundation stone-
laying ceremony was held on October
19.3
Japan.-Japanese      magnesium
producer Ube Industries Ltd. reportedly
signed a formal agreement with an
unidentified partner in China to take
dolomite feedstock under a long-term
agreement. Previously, Ube Industries
had long-term agreements with suppliers
in the Republic of Korea and Taiwan and
made spot purchases from China. Ube
Industries was estimated to require
between 80,000 and 100,000 tons of
dolomite per year.31
Japan Metal & Chemicals (JMC)
reportedly liquidated its 5,000-ton-per-
year primary magnesium plant in
December, after it had been idle for more
than 1 year. The plant was originally
opened in 1987 and has been closed since
mid-1992. Furnace problems were cited
as the original reason for closure, but
because of increased imports from China
and the former U.S.S.R. and appreciation
of the yen, the plant has remained closed.
JMC announced that it would continue to
market magnesium through remelting
ingot consigned from Northwest Alloys
inc.32
Kawasaki Steel Corp. in Japan
announced  that  it  is  testing  a
desulfurization process using magnesium;
this company would be the first Japanese
steel producer to use magnesium. This
could increase the world magnesium
desulfurization market significantly.33
Japan's Kobe Steel finished installing
production equipment at its new
aluminum and magnesium alloy casting
plant in Daian. The casting shop was
expected to be completely operational by
December.34
Norway.-Hydro Magnesium
reportedly was conducting a preliminary
study to build a magnesium recycling
plant near Her0ya, Norway.     The
proposed plant would have a capacity of
10,000 tons per year and would be the


first magnesium recycling plant in
Norway.     To  encourage  European
automakers to use magnesium, the plant
would melt scrap returned from diecasters
and return it in ingot form. Completion
of the study was scheduled for the second
or third quarter of 1993.3S
Saudi Arabia.-A feasibility study
conducted for the Gulf Organization for
Industrial Consultancy, an offshoot of the
Gulf Corporation Council (GCC),
suggested constructing a 10,000-ton-
per-year primary magnesium plant in the
Persian Gulf area. (The six Arab nations
that form the GCC are Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the
United Arab Emirates.) The study said
that Saudi Arabia would be a likely
location for the new plant, but both Oman
and Qatar could be possible locations.
Annual magnesium dead in the six
nations was estimated to be 3,000 tons,
but was expected to increase to 10,000
tons by 2000. Cost for building the new
magnesium plant was calculated to be $85
million, and because of inexpensive fuel
costs in the area, the consultancy
estimated that the cost of producing 1 ton
of magnesium would be $2,880.3?
Ukraine.-In Ukraine, the
Government introduced export duties on
a variety of metals and raw materials.
Included in these materials is magnesium,
which has an export duty of 30% of the
sale price, effective June 1, 1993.
Previously, the country had no export
duty  on  magnesium.37    In  May,
Alusuisse-Lonza Trading Group
reportedly signed an agreement with
Kemo Komplex in Ukraine to market its
Kalusch 99.9% magnesium in most areas
of the world. Kemo Komplex was
expected  to   continue  to  market
magnesium in Europe, and its agreement
with Alusuisse-Lonza would improve its
marketing, transportation, and storage
arrangements.8
Current Research.-Researchers at the
U.S. Bureau of Mines have developed a
process to vacuum distill magnesium and
zinc  from  aluminum  alloys as an
alternative to chlorination. Distillation is
considered more environmentally benign


than chlorination, and the metals are
produced as byproducts that can be
recycled. Bench-scale tests have shown
lower than expected distillation rates at
8500 C, but commercial operations could
use induction heating at higher
temperatures to improve distillation
rates.39
The International Magnesium
Association's annual magnesium
conference highlighted developments in
several areas of magnesium and
magnesium alloy technology. Topics
covered in papers presented at the 1993
conference included advancements in
magnesium alloy diecasting technology,
alloy development and improvements,
desulfunization advances, and magnesium
alloy recycling.40
Researchers  at  the  Universidad
Nacional Autonoma de Mexico studied
the effects of microstructure and alloying
elements on the efficiency of sacrificial
magnesium anodes. From the results of
their investigations, the researchers found
that by controlling the quantity of second-
phase, iron-rich particles at grain
boundaries,  anode  efficiency  was
improved.41
As part of a broad research program
aimed at the characterization and
development of magnesium and
magnesium alloy composites, researchers
at Laval University investigated different
methods of producing magnesium and
magnesium alloy composites reinforced
with silicon carbide. Two methods of
powder metallurgy processing and one
method of ingot metallurgy processing
were investigated. In the first powder
metallurgy method, mechanical alloying
using a low-energy ball mill to form
composite particles is followed by hot
pressing and hot extrusion. The second
powder metallurgy method used simple
dry mixing of the particles, followed by
hot pressing and hot extrusion. In ingot
metallurgy, a fluxless melting technology
is used. The researchers found that the
best combination of properties, including
crack initiation and propagation behavior,
was achieved with the low-energy
mechanical alloying.42


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