Magnesium metal and its alloys are known to have excellent physical and mechanical properties suitable for a number of industrial and technological applications; however due to their highly reactive nature, magnesium alloys have seen little industrial use. Of the many coating technologies available, electroless deposition allows for an even coating but generally requires multistepped pretreatment regiments to mitigate the reactivity of magnesium in the electrolyte. This paper demonstrates a novel method to deposit well adhered, reasonably continuous electroless copper (Cu), as well as electroless nickel boron (Ni-B) alloys, directly on polished AZ91D and AM50 magnesium alloys in a highly alkaline environment. (C) 2011 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3537041] All rights reserved.