Did Utah buy US Magnesium for the water or the minerals?

Utah won a $30 million bid for US Magnesium’s land, water rights and mining agreements on Tuesday as part of a wider strategy to refill the shrinking Great Salt Lake.

The asset transfer is the latest in a series of unfortunate events for US Magnesium, which was at one point the country’s largest producer of the mineral. In 2021, equipment failure prompted the company to stop producing magnesium, and in September 2025, the company filed for bankruptcy.

Assets the state bought include the company’s 4,500 acres on Great Salt Lake’s southwest shore and the water rights to just over 144,000 acre-feet, which is roughly the same volume as Deer Creek Reservoir.

Joel Ferry, the executive director of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources, told the Deseret News that when he looked at the company’s bankruptcy filings, “there wasn’t a lot of initial intent to look at continuing to produce magnesium.” His team began wondering what would be the best path forward for Utah.

So officials sat down with Gov. Spencer Cox’s office and made a decision “for the state to take a bigger role in how this plays out,” Ferry said.

The state’s asset purchase “is a huge win for the state of Utah,” Ferry said. “I can’t overexaggerate how big and important this is for the long-term viability of Great Salt Lake and for the health and quality of life for the citizens of Utah.”

Ferry added that the state has been in conversation with several private mineral producers interested in using the land — on the condition they use newer technologies that mitigate water loss.

The purchase is a result of five years of work

Since 2021, the Great Salt Lake has been at the center of many state policy changes.

For example, in 2022, when he was serving as a state representative, Ferry sponsored a bill that allowed water left in rivers or delivered to the Great Salt Lake to legally count as “beneficial use,” instead of being treated as waste.

The bill provided structure for a new initiative that allows farmers to sell their water to the lake at around $300 per acre-foot.

“If it hadn’t been for the kind of groundwork that was laid over the last five years ... if I would have pitched the purchase five years ago, I don’t think it would have happened,” Ferry said.

He added that his department has worked closely with the governor, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality and Division of Wildlife Resources to get the purchase to go through.

“The governor’s office has been so supportive,” Ferry said. “The leadership from Spencer Cox on this issue is second to none. He has done a fantastic job. He believes in this, and he’s doing his part in being supportive of all the things we’re doing.”

Why has the Great Salt Lake become such a hot issue?

When asked why Ferry believes the Great Salt Lake’s shrinkage has become such a large issue, he responded, “If we don’t take every effort to save this lake long term, our children and grandchildren future generations will be paying the consequences.”

Those consequences, Ferry said, include poor air quality, a diminished snowpack and negative health impacts.

Several researchers around Utah, including University of Utah professor Kevin Perry, worry that dust from the newly exposed lakebed could carry harmful metals like arsenic around the Wasatch Front.

But “ultimately, it’s all about this quality of life that I grew up with on the north shore of the Great Salt Lake,” Ferry said.

Ferry’s family has lived on a farm and ranch where the Bear River enters the Great Salt Lake for 125 years. “I see the ramification,” he said. “I see the invasive species that have come in because the water’s not there like it used to be.”

“I have personally experienced it. I know what it’s like, and it’s devastating. I would love to have my kids and grandkids have similar experiences that I’ve had and enjoy this quality of life. I think it’s worth it,” Ferry said.