The remnants of the Zechstein Sea lie beneath Veendam, 2000 meters below the ground. A primeval sea full of minerals and salts that dried up millions of years ago and lay untouched under the ground...until 1972. An unexpected discovery is made during exploratory drilling for gas in Groningen. Researchers encounter a remnant of the primeval sea and find a rare, bischofite salt layer.
The salt layer turns out to contain unusually pure magnesium salt and, because of the thickness of the salt layer, it can be extracted easily. The decision to extract the magnesium salt from this salt layer ultimately led to the establishment of Nedmag. Nedmag has extracted the purest magnesium salt in Veendam ever since.