Traditional bulk mixing processes used to mix LiF sintering aid into a powder leave fairly inhomogeneous distribution of Lif that must be homogenized by extended heat treatment times at elevated temperatures. The homogenizing temperature for Lif/Spinel occurs at the temperature of fast reaction between the LiF and the Al2O3. In order to avoid this detrimental reaction, they have developed a new process that uniformly coats the spinel particles with the sintering aid. This allows them to reduce the amount of Lif necessary for densification and to rapidly heat through the temperature of maximum reactivity. These developments have allowed NRL to fabricate MgAl2O4 spinel to high transparency with extremely high reproducibility that should enable military as well as commercial use of spinel.