Magnesium Elektron
Magnesium Elektron of Clifton Junction, near Manchester, smelters of magnesium ores and production of metal and alloys.
Associated company of F. A. Hughes and Co Ltd.
1936 Factory established at Clifton, Lancashire, to make magnesium metal and alloy components for the aircraft, motor and other industries[1]. Annual electricity consumption of the factory expected to be 50,000 MWh, which would give employment to 150 miners to supply the coal for Kearsley power station.
The derelict Clifton Hall, once home to the banker Benjamin Arthur Heywood, was demolished to make way for the factory.[2]
1936 'NEW LANCASHIRE INDUSTRY
MAGNESIUM FACTORY TO MEET WORLD SHORTAGE
A magnesium metal and alloy factory manufacturing "Elektron" and capable of supplying the total requirements of the whole of the British aircraft, motor, and other magnesium-using industries, is to be established at Clifton, Lancashire, by Magnesium Elektron Limited, the £500.000 concern associated to Messrs. F. A. Hughes and Co., Ltd.. of London.
Clifton Junction, where the industry will be located, is only about two miles from Kearsley, where the principal power station of the Lancashire Electric Power Company is situated. The cheap supply of electricity offered is understood to have been a prominent factor influencing the selection of Lancashire as the home for this new industry. The factory will, to some extent, be housed in the fine buildings formerly employed by the L.M.S. as a power station before they decided to abandon private generation. This is not only a new industry for Lancashire, but a new source of employment for British labour, as at present most supplies of magnesium and its alloys are being obtained from foreign sources. Something like 50,000,000 units of electricity will be required annually at the outset, but this is only a beginning. Permanent employment in Lancashire will be given to at least 150 miners simply to produce the additional coal necessary to generate the required electricity. Beyond this many hundreds of workers will find employment either within the Clifton works of Magnesium Elektron, Limited, or in the production and installation of the new plant, or in producing coal, coke, and other manufacturing materials, and in transport. It is understood that the plant will he in full production by September of this year.' [3]
1937 Magnesium metal and alloy manufacturers. Production began of Elektron alloy under licence from foreign patentees. ICI also had an interest in the company[4].
1939 See Aircraft Industry Suppliers
1945 'FIRM’S FAREWELL. Employing 80 people Magnesium Elektron Ltd of Councillor Lane, Cheadle which started war work in May 1941 closed down at the weekend, their products no longer being necessary now that victory has come. They have been a happy band of workmates and to celebrate the victory and say goodbye as pleasantly as possible the management arranged a farewell party at Cheadle Literary Institute on Monday night. The manager Mr John Robertson was MC ...'[5]
Distillers Co acquired majority interest in Magnesium Elektron Ltd[6].
1951 Distillers Co acquired the remainder of the shares in Magnesium Elektron Ltd from ICI[7].
1955 British Aluminium Co acquired a majority interest in the company[8].
Now Luxfer MEL. See website
From Wikipedia entry, accessed 22 June 2025: '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.'