Molycorp announces completion of capital raise for its $781 million rare earth expansion and modernisation project
June 20, 2011
Molycorp, Inc., the Western hemisphere’s only producer of rare earth oxides, has announced that it has secured the final funds necessary for its $781 million expansion and modernisation project at its rare earth facility in Mountain Pass, California. Full funding of the capital plan of Project Phoenix is a major milestone in Molycorp’s overall rare earth ‘mine-to-magnets’ business plan, stated the company.
“Project Phoenix is now fully funded, and we remain on time and on budget for both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of this estimated $781 million expansion and modernization project,” reported Mark A. Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Molycorp, Inc. “Beginning next year, we expect to significantly ramp up production of 10 different high-purity rare earth oxides – light and heavy rare earths – as well as a variety of rare earth metals, alloys, and permanent rare earth magnets. We also remain on track to emerge as the world’s lowest-cost manufacturer of rare earth oxides, which will be a particularly powerful growth driver for our downstream manufacturing operations,” he continued.
When Phase 1 of Project Phoenix is completed, which is expected to occur next year, Molycorp’s manufacturing assets will comprise the world’s first fully integrated rare earth manufacturing supply chain, producing high-purity rare earth oxides, metals, alloys, and neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets.
“Our high-grade resource, our proprietary low-cost materials processing technology, and our ability to capture high margins through vertical integration puts Molycorp in a strong position to capitalize on growth in global rare earth demand and increasingly tight markets for these critical materials,” Smith said. “In addition, recent acquisitions have enabled us to manufacture rare earth metals and neodymium-iron-boron and samarium-cobalt alloys, which has moved us closer to realising our full ‘mine-to-magnets’ business plan.”
Edited by: Paul Whittaker, Editor ipmd.net, [email protected]
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