It plans to establish a commercial magnesium metal plant at Gladstone using the Australian Magnesium Process. It is expected to be in operation by 2002. Other companies including Crest Resources Australia NL, Pima Mining NL, and Golden Triangle Resources NL are investigating the possibility of building magnesium metal plants based on magnesite resources in located mainly in Tasmania and South Australia. There are two main uses for magnesite. The second is for processing to caustic calcined magnesia which is used principally as an food supplement in agribusiness, in fertilisers, and as fillers in paints, paper and plastics.
Raw magnesite is used for surface coatings, landscaping, ceramics, and as a fire retardant.
The largest single use for magnesium metal is in aluminium alloying, accounting for about 50 per cent of the total magnesium metal consumption. The science of magnesium oxide, The Helix , No 29, December 1993, pp. Hill, B.F. 1998, Magnesite and magnesia production by Queensland Magnesia production by Queensland Magnesia Operations Pty Ltd at Kunwarara and Rockhampton, Qld , in Australasian Mining and Metallurgy, vol. The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Melbourne, pp. McCallum, W.S. 1990, Magnesite Deposits in South Australia , in Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia and Papua New Guinea , ed.