We calculate ab initio the NMR relaxation rates and the Knight shifts in Mg
B2. We show that the dominant relaxation mechanism at the B-11 nucleus is t
he interaction with the electronic orbital moment, and we give a simple exp
lanation of that using a simple sp tight-binding model. When Stoner enhance
ment (also calculated ab initio) is accounted for, we obtain good agreement
with reported experimental values. For the Mg-25 nucleus, we predict that
the dominant relaxation mechanism is the Fermi-contact interaction, which a
lso dominates the Mg Knight shift.