Cream of magnesia
One of the largest producers and exporters of magnesia is dedicating itself to research and development in order to respond to the specific needs of customers and adapt to the effects of globalisation.
The village of Yerakini in Chalkidiki, northern Greece, is the base of a major mining concern. Grecian MagnesiteÔÇÖs presence in Chalkidiki goes back to 1914, when mines at Vavdos and Troupi were first developed by the distinguished engineer J.T. Lambrinides. In 1959, the company was acquired by the Portolos family. Today, it remains a family company and employs about 320 people.
Grecian MagnesiteÔÇÖs interests reach beyond Greece: it has a 40 per cent stake in the Spanish mining company Magnesitas Navarras S.A.; and in 2007 the company acquired a 50 per cent stake in Van Mannekus & Co., a leading trader and processor of magnesite and other industrial minerals, based in Schiedam, the Netherlands. Grecian Magnesite also has a Turkish subsidiary company, Akdeniz Mineral Kaynaklari A.S., which has substantial magnesia reserves and production capacity.
Magnesite is magnesium carbonate (MgCO3). In Chalkidiki, Grecian Magnesite extracts the mineral ore through open-cast mining. Magnesite often contains traces of iron, giving it a grey or brown colour, but because the magnesite deposits in Chalkidiki are unusually pure, their colour is whiteÔÇöand the Greek name for magnesite literally means ÔÇÿwhite stoneÔÇÖ.
The raw magnesite produced by Grecian Magnesite has several industrial applications. However, even raw magnesite must be processed before it can be made suitable for industrial use. After mining, most of the gangue (the worthless rock) has to be removed. Grecian Magnesite does this through laser-scanning technology, using 11 photometric (light-measuring) ore sorters. The ore is then ready for beneficiation (the process of concentration of its mineral content), when it can be separated from the gangue that is left and then sorted according to different grades of quality. The companyÔÇÖs pre-beneficiation and beneficiation plants are both located at Yerakini.
Magnesite has various industrial applications in its raw form, but it can also serve many other purposes once it has been subjected to further treatment. Magnesite can be changed when heated to high temperatures: this process is known as calcination, and the material that results is called caustic calcined magnesia. The most common example of calcinations is when lime is made in a kiln from limestone. In the case of caustic calcined magnesia, the magnesite is usually heated to around 900┬║C. However, the raw magnesite can also be heated to a much higher temperature (at least 1600┬║C): this process is known as ÔÇÿdeadburningÔÇÖ and the product produced as a result is known as deadburned magnesia.
The important difference between caustic calcined magnesia and deadburned magnesia is that while caustic magnesia is a reactive material, deadburned magnesia, as its name implies, is not. Caustic magnesia has many vital uses as a result of its reactivity, as it can become a constituent in a wide variety of industrial formulae. Caustic magnesia is used in a range of industries, such as the agricultural industries, the pulp and paper industry, the pharmaceutical industry and in the manufacture of rubber, paints and plastics.
Deadburned magnesia, by contrast, can be of use precisely because it is not reactive. The ÔÇÿrefractoryÔÇÖ properties of deadburned magnesia mean that it can withstand the impact of very high temperatures. This is why deadburned magnesia is used in the steel industry to line blast furnaces, and to make heat-proof bricks. Deadburned magnesia is also important in electrical applications, where it provides the heating element for kettles and boilers.
Development director Michael Tsoukatos is at pains to emphasise that magnesite is more than a bulk commodity. Instead, circumstances have required Grecian Magnesite to dedicate itself to research and development, to be responsive to the specific needs of customers and to adapt to the effects of globalisation. The growing importance of China in the world economy has presented many mining companies with an opportunity to boost their profits, but for Grecian Magnesite, China represents competition. As Tsoukatos explains, China has more than 60 per cent of the worldÔÇÖs reserves of magnesite, and Chinese mining companies are now selling magnesite to all continents.┬á
In 1997, Grecian Magnesite worked out a new strategy in order to respond to these changing market conditions. ChinaÔÇÖs strongest card is its capacity for producing raw magnesite in bulk mostly used in commodity markets such as agricultural and refractories.
Grecian Magnesite realised that China was going to be hard to beat on price for magnesite products sold in high volumes. It therefore decided to concentrate on the more sophisticated and technically specialised products that are derived from caustic magnesia. Caustic magnesia can be produced in a wide variety of forms which vary according to crystal structure. The nature of the forms is determined according to the temperature of the kiln and the retention time. Grain size and surface area, in turn, are the factors determining the reactivity of the caustic magnesite. Consequently, there is a close relationship between the planning of the calcination process and the technical application desired by the customers. In this sense, Tsoukatos compares his company to a tailorÔÇÖs: China is competitive at the level of ÔÇÿoff the pegÔÇÖ, but Grecian Magnesite is focusing increasingly on ÔÇÿmade to measureÔÇÖ products.
Grecian Magnesite has adapted to changes within Europe as well as outside it. Tsoukatos explains that in modern European industry, the practice of ordering vast stocks of magnesia products which will then have to be stored over long periods is much less common. European business now expects to obtain supplies on the basis of the JIT (ÔÇÿjust in timeÔÇÖ) inventory, meaning that Grecian MagnesiteÔÇÖs clients place their order shortly before the moment of production, and then expect a fast and reliable delivery to follow.
Twenty years ago, says Tsoukatos, contracts were longer, and customers were less widely dispersed. The trend towards providing smaller and more frequent shipments, as and when required, is also more common in dealings with the niche markets to which Grecian Magnesite increasingly sells. Environmental issues have come to assume a much greater importance in Europe, and the application of caustic magnesia in environmental protection is a priority for Grecian MagnesiteÔÇÖs research and development facility at Vassilika Thessaloniki. The environmental research concerns the treatment of contaminated water that might otherwise enter the soil.
Grecian Magnesite also believes that mining should be compatible with a respect for its own local environment. Mining companies are contractually obliged to carry out environmental restoration, but the company has also shown a long-standing commitment towards conservation. Since 1990, Grecian Magnesite has been engaged in an extensive programme of reforestation. Magnesite is mined at Yerakini, but farmers grow olive trees there as well.
