Magnesium Elektron Ltd (MEL or the Mag) is a British materials manufacturer which produces

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

and

zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'' ...

metals and compounds. Since 2018 it has traded as Luxfer MEL Technologies, following a series of

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

. It is still based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

History

The company was founded in 1934, as the British Magnesium (Elektronmetal) Ltd. In 1935 it became Magnesium Elektron Ltd, formed as a joint venture between ICI (48%), I.G. Farbenindustrie (30%) and F.A. Hughes & Co (22%). It started by producing Elektron (or Elektronmetall) under licence. Elektron was first developed in 1908 by Gustav Pistor and Wilhelm Moschel at the Bitterfeld works of Chemische Fabrik Griesheim-Elektron (CFGE or CFG), whose headquarters was in Griesheim am Main, Germany. In 1936, the company opened a factory on Lumns Lane at Clifton Junction, to the north west of

, to produce magnesium metal. A second plant near

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

began operation in 1943. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the company made an important contribution to the nation's war effort producing thousands of tons of magnesium metal alloys for the aircraft industry. During the late 1940s, the company diversified into the production of zirconium and its compounds, and was acquired by the

Distillers Company The Distillers Company Limited was a leading Scottish drinks and pharmaceutical company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over by Guinness & Co. (now part of Diageo) in 1986 in a transaction which was later ...

in 1951. Zirconium carbonate production commenced in 1956, to meet a growing demand from the paint, paper and textile industries. In the 1950s MEL developed magnesium alloys (known collectively as ''magnox'') with non- oxidising properties for use in the cladding of

fuel rod Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...

s for the UK's

magnox Magnox is a type of nuclear power/production reactor that was designed to run on natural uranium with graphite as the moderator and carbon dioxide gas as the heat exchange coolant. It belongs to the wider class of gas-cooled reactors. The n ...

nuclear power stations. The production of

hafnium Hafnium is a chemical element with the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in many zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri M ...

metal for use in Britain's

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...

s began in 1958. In 1961, Magnesium Elektron became a wholly owned subsidiary of the

British Aluminium Company British Aluminium was an aluminium production company. It was originally formed as the British Aluminium Company Ltd on 7 May 1894 and was subsequently known as British Alcan Aluminium plc (1982-1996). History In the late 1880s and early 1890s, ...

. In 1996, the company was sold to the Luxfer Group. In 2018 it was recombined with MEL Chemicals to become Luxfer MEL Technologies.

References

External links

* http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Magnesium_Elektron Chemical companies of England Chemical companies established in 1934 British companies established in 1934 Manufacturing companies based in Manchester 1934 establishments in England {{England-company-stub