MagnesiumIn 1941, the commercial production of magnesium first began in the U.S. at Freeport, Texas. Magnesium, the lightest of all structural elements, was extracted from seawater through an electrolytic process. Herbert H. Dow first extracted the metal from brine in Midland, Michigan, in 1916. Dow’s Freeport magnesium plant played a key role during WW II when the lightweight metal became a critical alloy for airplanes. U.S. military aircraft production escalated, and as much as 2,000 pounds of magnesium was needed per plane. Today, magnesium alloys are die cast into a variety of automotive components. On 20 Nov 1998, Dow Chemical Co. announced it would shut down production at Freeport due to crippling damage during severe Gulf Coast storms. |
