The impact of Mg addition to Al7Si alloy is investigated using thermal and image analyses. It is shown that Mg expands alpha-Al solidification range and eutectic forms over a thermal range. For alloys containing less than 0.6% Mg, differential scanning calorimetry analysis and thermo-dynamic calculations are incapable of predicting the formation of Mg2Si phase during solidification. Furthermore, Mg addition leads to the formation of greater percentage of alpha-Al primary phase which is beneficial during semisolid processing of hypoeutectic Al-Si alloys.