Colorado-based Big Blue Technologies says its ‘all-electric’ smelter would be cleaner and use less energy than conventional methods.

 

By Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile.com

A Colorado-based company wants to expand a pilot magnesium smelter now operating near Cheyenne as part of an effort to decrease the nation’s reliance on imports of the critical mineral, which, among other things, is a key component for electric vehicle batteries.

Big Blue Technologies now produces about 100 to 200 pounds per week in Wyoming. It proposes to “scale up” the pilot plant to produce 100 tons of magnesium annually, making it the largest magnesium metal production facility in North America, according to the company.

The Wyoming Energy Authority has recommended the project for a $1.5 million matching grant from the state to help support it.

The industry typically uses a lot of energy — smelters require considerable heat and historically contribute to fossil fuel emissions — but the company touts an “all-electric” process that could be fed by lower-carbon forms of electrical power. The company says its “aluminothermic reduction” technology would reduce energy consumption in the smelting process by up to 75% compared to conventional methods.

“Today, all primary, pure magnesium is sourced abroad, an indication that existing production technology is inadequate and uncompetitive,” Big Blue Technologies CEO Aaron Palumbo said in a prepared statement last year.

According to a state summary of Big Blue Technologies’ project, “There are no domestic primary producers” of magnesium. “Over 90% of global supply is controlled by China and Russia. Despite an abundance of magnesium ore, including in Wyoming, and a 108% import tariff on Chinese metal, none of the existing commercial smelting technologies are economically viable in the U.S.”

Exactly how much electricity will be required to power the Wyoming facility, and where it would come from, is unclear. But the company claims it will create a “vertically integrated mining and smelting operation to bolster a clean and economic production infrastructure.”

Big Blue Technologies says it “will assess the viability of carbon capture and sequestration from pure [carbon dioxide] generated during calcination of Wyoming dolomite” in the process. Also, last year, the company announced it had “secured an exploratory lease on a dolomite deposit on private land in the state of Wyoming.” Dolomite, which contains magnesium and calcium carbonate, is integral to the company’s smelting process. 

In August, the company announced a $2 million project backed by the Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technology Office “for the purpose of demonstrating sustainable and cost-competitive manufacture of automotive parts.” 

The Wyoming Energy Authority recently recommended a $1.5 million matching grant to the company via the state’s Energy Matching Funds program. The agency will accept public comments on the recommendation through June 6. Comments can be sent to wea@wyo.gov.

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