The mineral magnesium carbonate, more commonly called magnesite, is named for the significant amount of magnesium it contains. It is commercially processed and refined into several different forms, which makes magnesium useful in many different applications. A notable characteristic of magnesia, or magnesium oxide, is that it has an extremely high melting temperature. This makes it a useful refractory material for many processes in steelmaking, metallurgy and ceramics.
Magnesite is less obvious in our daily lives, but it is used in many processes that are necessary for products we interact with and consume on a regular basis. One form of magnesite, called caustic calcined magnesite, is used in fertilisers and livestock feeds, waste and water treatments and pulp and paper. Magnesia’s high melting point makes it a common material used for making bricks used to line kilns, industrial ovens and blast furnaces used to create products like ceramics. Additionally, magnesite can be used as a binder in flooring material and as a catalyst and filler in synthetic rubber production.