Two factors were critical to the gradual turning of the Zechstein Sea from a body of water to a solid, underground magnesium-rich mineral deposit: 1. The Zechstein Sea was an inland sea surrounded by larger mineral-rich oceans, and much of the land that separated them consisted of low land that was very similar to today’s Great Barrier Reef. 2. The climate surrounding the Ancient Zechstein Sea was extremely harsh: its hot and dry characteristics were similar to those of today’s Sahara desert. Due to the low land mass around the Zechstein Sea, the surrounding oceans’ mineral rich waters would rise above the barrier reefs and flood the Zechstein Sea found within. Over many millions of years, the Zechstein Sea experienced five long cycles of this major flooding of mineral-rich water. In between each major cyclical flooding, the hot and dry Sahara-like climate would evaporate the water content that had flooded the Zechstein Sea and the minerals would remain to be crystallized in the Zechstein Sea’s depths. These five long cycles of flooding, water evaporation, and mineral crystallization were what gradually turned the Zechstein Sea from a body of water, into a massive formation of solid, magnesium-rich mineral deposits.

As our friend and Zechstein’s head chemical engineer Dave explains, chemistry’s laws of nature dictate that magnesium-chloride – the Earth’s most naturally occurring form of magnesium – was the last mineral to crystallize under those harsh prehistoric conditions. Not only was the magnesium the last mineral to crystallize, but it did so in vast quantities of high concentrations, that formed today’s “pockets” of pure magnesium chloride. The reason lies in the density variations of different mineral compounds; magnesium chloride’s unique molecular form called Bischofite is special because the magnesium chloride molecule is so hydrophilic (water-loving) that it naturally attaches to, and surrounds itself with six water molecules, thus explaining why the magnesium layers would be grouped together near the top of the depths of the underground Zechstein Seabed as the water would evaporate from the top.

This gradual prehistoric mineral crystallization of the Zechstein Sea into the world’s highest concentration of magnesium chloride, can be compared to the current happenings of the Dead Sea in Israel. If we wait another 100 million years, the Dead Sea will have crystallized into a solid mineral deposit as well, however with one important difference: During the Zechstein Sea’s crystallization, human life – and thus pollution – never existed, meaning the Ancient Underground Zechstein Mineral Seabed is 100% natural and free of synthetic environmental toxins. On the other hand, the Dead Sea’s current ongoing crystallization is infused with the synthetic toxins that come with the pollution of human industry. The modern underground Zechstein Seabed spans from eastern Britain all the way to the western fringes of Poland, all entirely underground, completely sheltered from human pollution. It’s mineral deposits are many times bigger than the Dead Sea, and completely impervious to contamination.

Our advanced, yet extremely clever “solution mining” – which gives rise to the Zechstein Inside Batch Protocol – is just as fascinating as the history of the geological formation of the Ancient Underground Zechstein Seabed. The history and mining protocol also happen to have one thing in common: the natural laws of chemistry, and the brilliance of Bischofite. Let us remember that magnesium chloride is a very hydrophilic, water-loving mineral compound. The Zechstein mining operation consists of nine separate magnesium-extraction wells. Each well consists of two main pipes that penetrate the magnesium mineral deposits over 1.5 km underground. While one pipe shoots purified water into the underground magnesium chloride deposits, a second nearby pipe awaits, empty. So what exactly happens? An advanced centralized station considered to be the heart of the Zechstein mine, which consists of 5 computer-controlled pressure pumps, generates enough pressure for the first pipe in the well to send the purified water down into the magnesium deposits with extreme pressure. When the water hits the solid mineral deposit, it reacts with the water-loving nature of magnesium chloride and forms the naturally-occurring solution of magnesium chloride and water. Because the centralized pumps are able to create such extreme pressure, this forces the newly made magnesium solution up and out of the second pipe, into the Zechstein facility, where every batch of the solution is tested against the highest standard of cleanliness, (ppb – parts per BILLION) to ensure you are always getting the purest natural magnesium in the world. This precise mix of pressurized water injection, dissolution, precipitation and more, result in the super concentrated solution of purified water and 31% magnesium chloride: the highest concentration of naturally occurring magnesium in the world.