The key consumers of magnesite are refractories, chemicals, agriculture, construction etc.

India contains moderate resources of magnesite from the states of Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand. India is a supplier of crude and caustic-calcined grade, and also produces dead burned magnesite to meet the demand of Indian refractory industry for application in steel and cement industries. However fused magnesite is completely imported to India. North Indian ie Himalayan deposits are high in Iron content and not suitable for preparation of bricks. Salem deposits of South India are high in silica and low in Lime & Iron content. These are suitable for bricks in certain applications.

The total reserves/resources of magnesite as per NMI database, based on UNFC system, as on 1.4.2015 is about 394 million tonnes of which Reserves and Remaining Resources are 82 million tonnes and 312 million tonnes, respectively. Substantial quantities of resources are established in Uttarakhand (59%), followed by Tamil Nadu (25%) and Rajasthan (14%). Resources are also located in Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka and Kerala.

The following end-use grade classification of magnesite has been adopted in the NMI as on 1.4.2015.

• High Grade : Directly useable for making high grade DBM.
  MgO – 45.5% min SiO2 2.5% max CaO – 1.5% max
  
  
• Medium Grade : Directly useable for making ordinary DBM.
  MgO – 42.5% min SiO2 – 2.5% to 4% max CaO – 1.5% max
  
  
• Beneficiable/Low grade :
  a) MgO – 38 to below 42.5%
  Magnesite amenable to reduce silica content by simple dressing and sorting.
  b) MgO -35%, CaO-3% (max), Fe2O3-3% (max)
  
  
• Others : Estimation of such grade through useable/marketable but cannot be classified into above grades.
  
  
• Unclassified : Range of minimum and maximum values of the constituents are too wide to classify under above grades
  
  (Source: IBM)

Fused magnesia is superior to dead burned magnesia in terms of abrasion resistance, chemical stability, and strength. India is completely dependent on imports to meet its fused magnesite demand. Some attempts were made to remove the impurities of Indian magnesite by bioleaching but the efforts were not commercially viable.

India’s trading partners are:

China with a share of 42% (60 million US$)
Australia with a share of 21% (30 million US$)
Ireland with a share of 12.6% (18.2 million US$)
Turkey with a share of 9.06% (13 million US$)
Netherlands with a share of 2.96% (4.26 million US$)
Japan with a share of 2.82% (4.06 million US$)