Resource News
Will Feds spend $3m to help secure U.S. domestic rare earths supply?
By resourceINTEL · October 7, 2009 · 6:33 am · Leave a Comment
RENO, NV -
As Chinese cutbacks in rare earths exports has focused renewed attention on Molycorp Minerals’ rare earths operations outside of Las Vegas, Molycorp has taken the unusual step of seeking federal funding for development of proprietary processes at its Mountain Pass Mine.
This has raised the ire of government watchdog groups who objected to allocating more federal funds to a private mining company with Goldman Sachs as its largest private owner. Goldman received $10 billion in taxpayer bail-out money a year ago, which has since been repaid.
Mineweb is among the news organizations which has called attention to Molycorp, the only U.S. operation which has mined rare earth elements in the recent past, and could ramp up quickly should Chinese exports be drastically cut.
Molycorp Minerals claims the Mountain Pass Mine “contains the most abundant rare earth deposit on the planet, outside of China.” Five years ago, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the mine contained 20 million tonnes grading at 9.4% of rare earth oxides.
In an interview with Mineweb Tuesday, Molycorp CEO Mark Davis said a 43-101 compliant pre-feasibility study to be completed on November 1st could demonstrate 100 years of rare earths mineral supply at Mountain Pass.
The cost to bring the mine on line by 2012 is currently estimated by Molycorp Minerals to be $450 million. Davis said Molycorp is examining a number of avenues to obtain lower cost capital, including $3 million in funding under the U.S. Department of Defense Industrial Base Manufacturing Program. He noted that the Brush Wellman beryllium facility in Utah has previously qualified for federal funding under a Department of Defense (DOD) program.
In 2005, Brush Wellman received a $9 million federal contract for the engineering and design of a new facility for the production of primary beryllium under the Department of Defense’s Defense Production Act…read more at the MineWeb
