Molycorp’s New Rare Earth Complex is Operational


Aerial view of Molycorp’s rare earth processing facilities near Mountain Pass, California during construction.
(Photo courtesy Molycorp)
Molycorp announced on January 10, 2013, that all key production components of its new state-of-the-art Project Phoenix rare earth manufacturing complex in Mountain Pass, California, are up and operational and the facility has begun ramping up to its full-scale Phase 1 run rate. The company expects that with an orderly ramp up of pro-duction it will reach or exceed its Phase 1 run rate of 19,050 mt/y of rare earth oxide equivalent by mid-year.

The Mountain Pass complex is de-signed to allow for expanded production to a Phase 2 rate of as much as 40,000 mt/y of rare earth oxide equivalent. However, the company stated that, while most of the equipment necessary to complete Phase 2 is already on site, the decision to complete Phase 2 construction and start-up will not be made until market demand, product pricing, capital availability and financial returns justify additional increases in pro-duction beyond Phase 1.

Molycorp officials said that controlling capital and operating costs continues to be a top priority. With the combination of the new Phase 1 ramp-up schedule and cur-rent rare earth pricing environment, the company anticipates lower than expected revenue and cash flow for 2013 and is evaluating its capital needs for the year.

As featured in Womp 2013 Vol 02 - www.womp-int.com