Molycorp

Molycorp Inc. was an American mining corporation headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.[1] The corporation, which was formerly traded on the New York Stock Exchange,[2] owned the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California. It filed for bankruptcy in June 2015 after changing competitive circumstances, declining prices on output and a 2014 restructuring. It was purchased by its largest creditor Oaktree Capital Management and was reorganized as Neo Performance Materials.[3]

Molycorp Inc.
TypePublic
IndustryMining
Founded2010
HeadquartersGreenwood Village, Colorado, United States
Key people
Geoff Bedford (CEO)
Michael F. Doolan, Chief Financial Officer
ProductsRare earth elements
Websitewww.molycorp.com

History

Roots of the company dates back to 1919 when the Molybdenum Corporation of America, established as a subsidiary of the Electric Reduction Company,[4] started molybdenum ore mining at Questa, New Mexico.[5]

In 1950, the Molybdenum Corporation of America bought the Mountain Pass mining claims, and began production in 1952. It changed its name to Molycorp in 1974. The corporation was acquired by Union Oil in 1977, which in turn became part of Chevron Corporation in 2005.[5] In 2007, Molycorp Inc. was merged with the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. to form Chevron Mining Inc.[6]

In 2008, Chevron Mining sold the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and the rights to the Molycorp name to Rare Earth Acquisitions LLC, a special purpose company which was renamed Molycorp Minerals LLC. The company was owned by Resource Capital Funds, Pegasus Partners IV, LP, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Traxys North America LLC and Carint Group LLC.[7] On July 29, 2010, Molycorp, Inc., a newly established parent company of Molycorp Minerals LLC, became a publicly traded firm by selling 28,125,000 shares at $14 in its IPO. The shares were traded under the ticker symbol MCP on the NYSE.

In April 2011, Molycorp bought 90% stake in a rare metals processing company Silmet in Estonia for US$89 million.[8] Silmet was renamed Molycorp Silmet and remaining 10% was acquired by Molycorp in October 2011.[9]

In June 2012, Molycorp acquired the Canadian-based company Neo Material Technologies Inc.[10] Neo Material Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 2006 by merger of the Indianapolis-based company Magnequench and the Canadian rare elements company AMR Technologies, Inc. Magnequench, a manufacturer of neodymium-iron-boron magnets, was founded by General Motors in 1986. [11]

In November 2012, the company announced that it was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the accuracy of the company's public disclosures.[12] In June 2013, Molycorp Inc. said the SEC has completed the investigation and has not recommended any enforcement action.[13]

In 2014, with the company facing heavy capital needs and lower prices in the China-dominated market, Oaktree Capital Group had won the bidding to provide up to $400 million of senior restructuring finance.[14] Molycorp filed for bankruptcy protection in late June 2015, after changing competitive circumstances, declining prices on output and a 2014 restructuring. At the same time it announced an agreement "with major creditors to restructure its $1.70 billion debt load".[15] It was purchased by its largest creditor Oaktree Capital Management and was reorganized as Neo Performance Materials.[3]

Operations

Mountain Pass mine
Main article: Mountain Pass rare earth mine

The company’s principal asset was the Mountain Pass rare earth mine, which once supplied the majority of the world's rare earth elements. The mine was previously owned by Unocal. The mine closed in 2002, but reopened in 2010.[16] Because of the competition from China, the mine became unprofitable. In the reorganization process of Molycorp, the mine was separated from the company and scheduled to be sold in March 2017 at the auction in bankruptcy court, with a $40 million opening offer.[17]

International business

In December 2010, Japanese firms Sumitomo and Mitsubishi signed agreements to be supplied with rare earths by Molycorp.[18] US-based fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst manufacturer W.R. Grace & Co. similarly signed a supply agreement with Molycorp in November 2010.[19] Molycorp was to supply W.R. Grace & Co. with an undisclosed amount of lanthanum and cerium, essential components for FCC catalyst manufacturing through 2015.[19]

Molycorp additionally owns one of the few processing plants outside China—Molycorp Silmet—that it had purchased in Estonia in 2011.[20]

References
  1. Lee Spears and Kristen Scholer, “Molycorp, Enevest slash IPOs, Surgivision postpones,” Bloomberg, 29 July 2010.
  2. Molycorp Inc. visits the NYSE, New York Stock Exchange.
  3. "Molycorp Silmet renamed NPM Silmet AS". The Baltic Course. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  4. Voynick, Stephen M. (1996). Climax: The History of Colorado's Climax Molybdenum Mine. Mountain Press Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 9780878423545.
  5. McLernon, Sean (2013-04-08). "Chevron Blames US For Pollution At Mineral Mining Site". Law 360. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  6. "P&M Coal and Molycorp Become Chevron Mining Inc" (Press release). Chevron Corporation. 2007-09-05. Retrieved 2017-03-05 – via PR Newswire.
  7. "Chevron Mining agrees to sell Mountain Pass rare earth mining operations" (PDF) (Press release). Chevron Corporation. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  8. "Molycorp buys rare earth processor". Bloomberg Businessweek. Associated Press. 2011-04-04. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  9. Banerjee, Ankur (2011-10-24). "Molycorp buys rest of European rare earths plant". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  10. Main, Carla (12 November 2012). "Libor Arrests, FSA Conflicts, Molycorp Probe: Compliance". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  11. St.Clair, Jeffrey. "The Saga of Magnaquench". Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  12. "Molycorp Issues Statement Regarding SEC Investigation". Molycorp. November 9, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  13. "SEC recommends no action against rare earths producer Molycorp = June 27, 2013". Reuters. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  14. Jarzemsky, Matt, "Molycorp Creditor Oaktree Scores With Savvy Move", Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  15. Miller, John W., "Molycorp files for bankruptcy protection", MarketWatch, June 25, 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
  16. "Molycorp To Launch Sequential Start-Up of New, State-of-the-Art Rare Earth Manufacturing Facility This Week", Molycorp Press Release, 21 February 2012
  17. Brickley, Peg (2017-02-01). "California's Mountain Pass Mine to be Auctioned in Bankruptcy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  18. Taro Koyano, "Firms eye U.S. rare earths / Sumitomo, Mitsubishi link with Molycorp to diversify from China," Daily Yomiuri Online, 20 December 2010.
  19. Kaskey, Jack, "Molycorp to Supply Rare Earths to Grace for Catalysts", businessweek.com, November 5, 2010.
  20. "Molycorp buys rare earth processor", AP, businessweek.com, April 4, 2011.
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