Considering Ellingham diagram. Mg metal can be used to reduced alumina.
The negative free energy change for the formation of MgO from Mg is greater than that for the formation of Al2O3 from Al
Hence, Mg has greater tendency to undergo oxidation than Al. Hence, Mg is oxidised and Al2O3 is reduced to Al.
Note: More negative the value of ΔG, the greater is the tendency, of the element to combine with Oxygen.