# Tidal Metals

> Tidal Metals is a Trenton/Hamilton, New Jersey deep-tech company that extracts primary magnesium metal from seawater and desalination brine using nothing but renewable electricity and physical processes - no ore mining, no carbon emissions, and no waste stream. Founded by three plasma-physics PhDs who met at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the company aims to rebuild a domestic U.S. magnesium supply chain currently dominated by China, serving aerospace, defense, and next-generation automotive manufacturing.

- **Founded:** 2016
- **Headquarters:** Hamilton/Trenton, New Jersey, United States
- **Founders:** Howard Yuh (Co-Founder & CEO (PhD, Applied Plasma Physics, MIT)), Ethan Schartman (Co-Founder & CTO (PhD, Plasma Physics, Princeton)), Kevin Tritz (Co-Founder & COO (PhD, Engineering Physics, UW-Madison))
- **Team size:** ~17 employees
- **Products:** Decarbonized primary magnesium metal, High-purity chlorine co-product, Commercial pilot plant
- **Notable:** Winner of the World Economic Forum's Sustainable Mining Challenge (UpLink), 2024, Closed $8.5M Series Seed led by DCVC (September 2024), Developed patented, waste-free physical process to extract magnesium from seawater at ~97% energy recycling

## Products & services

- **Decarbonized primary magnesium metal** — Aerospace- and manufacturing-grade primary magnesium extracted from seawater or desalination brine using physical concentration processes plus electrolysis, powered by renewable electricity, with zero waste stream.
- **High-purity chlorine co-product** — The process yields roughly three tons of high-purity chlorine per ton of magnesium, to be marketed and distributed via a partnership with Alexander Chemical Corporation.
- **Commercial pilot plant** — A pilot facility targeting ~200 tons/year to demonstrate the technology, with a scale-up goal toward 10,000 tons annually.

## Achievements

- Winner of the World Economic Forum's Sustainable Mining Challenge (UpLink), 2024
- Closed $8.5M Series Seed led by DCVC (September 2024)
- Developed patented, waste-free physical process to extract magnesium from seawater at ~97% energy recycling
- Signed December 2025 MOU with Alexander Chemical to commercialize chlorine co-product
- Pivoted from GreenBlu desalination technology into critical-minerals production

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Signed MOU with Alexander Chemical Corporation to market and distribute chlorine co-produced from its magnesium-from-seawater process.
- **2024-09** — Announced $8.5M Series Seed led by DCVC to fund a commercial pilot plant; named a winner of the WEF Sustainable Mining Challenge.

## Links

- Website: https://tidalmetals.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tidalmetals

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tidal-metals
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-02