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

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), 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 ...

and

zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Zr and atomic number 40. First identified in 1789, isolated in impure form in 1824, and manufactured at scale by 1925, pure zirconium is a lustrous transition metal with a greyis ...

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 a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

. It is still based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

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 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

began operation in 1943. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 plc was a leading Scotch whisky company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over in 1986 by Guinness & Co. and is now part of Diageo. History The Distillers Company origins lie in a trade ...

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 refers to any substance, typically fissile material, which is used by nuclear power stations or other nuclear devices to generate energy. Oxide fuel For fission reactors, the fuel (typically based on uranium) is usually based o ...

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 ...

nuclear power stations. The production of

hafnium Hafnium is a chemical element; it has 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 Dm ...

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. 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