Brine Brine is used for food processing and cooking (pickling and brining), for de-icing of roads and other structures, and in a number of technological processes. It is also a by-product of many industrial processes, such as desalination, and may pose an environmental risk due to its corrosive and toxic effects, so it requires wastewater treatment for proper disposal. Saline water with relatively high concentration of salt (usually sodium chloride) occurs naturally on Earth's surface (salt lakes), crust, and within brine pools on ocean bottom. Numerous processes exist which can produce brines in nature. Modification of seawater via evaporation results in
Brine mining magnesium from the bitterns left after salt precipitation. The Dow Chemical Company began producing magnesium on a small scale in 1916, from deep subsurface brine in the Michigan Basin. In 1933, Dow began using an ion exchange process to concentrate the magnesium in its brine. In 1941, prompted by the need for magnesium for aircraft during World War II, Dow started a large plant at Freeport, Texas, to extract magnesium from the sea. A number of other plants to extract magnesium from brine were built in the US, including one near the Freeport plant at Velasco. At the end of