The most important commercial sources of beryllium and its compounds are beryl and bertrandite. Beryllium metal did not become readily available until
1957. Currently, most production of this metal is accomplished by reducing
beryllium fluoride with
magnesium metal. The price on the US market for vacuum-cast beryllium ingots was 338
US$ per pound ($745/kg) in 2001.
[2]BeF2 + Mg → MgF2 + Be