the rare earth recovery , energy cost and reagent consumption . We have the technology to recycle a lot of chemicals and regenerate them . “ We always talk about the disadvantage of being a mining company in the United States because of the stricter environmental standards ,” he continues . “ We want to do more recycling and regeneration of reagents , so what once was a disadvantage has turned into an advantage because the Chinese are not in that mode .”
Currently in the engineering phase of facility improvements , Molycorp intends to move forward with the retrofits in a phased approach . After reprocessing the precipitates that were stockpiled on site , and once portions of the mining operation are running , the company will begin the milling and flotation process , which has been dormant since 2002 . “ We plan to begin mining operations in the next 12 to 18 months ,” Smith says . “ Our goal for 2012 is 20 million pounds of rare earth production and 40 million pounds in 2013 .”
New technology will assist in processing the rare earth elements and separating out individual elements . The primary mineral Molycorp will mine is Bastnasite , Smith says , allowing it to recover cerium , lanthanum , neodymium , praseodymium and several other heavy rare earth metals . Bastnasite is a mixed lanthanide fluorocarbonate mineral that provides the bulk of the world ’ s supply of the light rare earth elements .
Restarting rare earth mineral mining at Molycorp could generate thousands of new jobs for all of the support businesses and as many as 900 new jobs at Molycorp Minerals , Smith notes . As of early December 2009 , Molycorp starting hiring some of the key process personnel needed to develop the systems going forward , although much of the hiring was yet to come . “ The operations will include more processes than what we had in the past , but it ’ s going to run with less people per process unit ,” Smith notes .
Although the economy certainly presents challenges when it comes to getting financing , Smith says investors are still looking for good opportunities . “ There is a lot of excitement and interest in Molycorp and in the project ,” he notes . “ It seems to me the [ stakeholders ] have received a lot of interest from a broad group of individuals or institutions interested in what we are doing .
“ We are currently modifying the plant to change the technology to get ready to run using a more effective approach ,” Smith explains . “ We really have a process here that is effective and energy efficient .” ■
[ Details correct at time of writing ]
www . molycorp . com
58