Molycorp Awards EPC Contract for Chlor-Alkali Facility to KBR
Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP), the Western hemisphere's only producer of
rare earth oxides, today announced the award of an Engineering,
Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract by a wholly owned
subsidiary to KBR (NYSE: KBR) to build a Chlor-Alkali plant as part of
Molycorp's state-of-the-art, $781 million Project Phoenix expansion and
modernization at its flagship rare earth facility at Mountain Pass,
Calif.
The Chlor-Alkali facility will be used in a highly innovative way to
allow Molycorp to recycle virtually all of the water used in the
chemical separation of individual rare earth elements at Mountain Pass.
The Chlor-Alkali process also is key to Molycorp's ability to recycle
the chemical reagents needed in rare earth oxide manufacture. Such
recycling will greatly reduce the environmental footprint of U.S. rare
earth production at Mountain Pass, as well as help to position Molycorp
as the world's lowest-cost producer of high-purity rare earth oxides
beginning in 2012.
'We are pleased to be achieving another significant milestone in Project
Phoenix with this contract award, and to be moving forward with the
construction of our Chlor-Alkali facilty,' said Dr. John L. Burba, Chief
Technology Officer and Executive Vice President for Molycorp. 'The
innovative use we will make of this highly reliable technology will help
position Molycorp to be both environmentally superior in our rare earth
manufacturing as well as the world's lowest-cost producer.'
About Molycorp
Colorado-based Molycorp, Inc. is the only rare earth oxide (REO)
producer in the Western Hemisphere and the largest REO producer outside
of China. The company currently is expected to produce a total of
between 4,541 to 5,813 metric tons of commercial rare earth materials in
2011 from its three facilities. In addition to its flagship rare earth
mine and processing facility at Mountain Pass, California, Molycorp also
owns a controlling interest in the Estonia-based Molycorp Silmet AS. One
of the largest rare earth and rare metal producers in Europe, Molycorp
Silmet AS has an annual production capacity of approximately 3,000
metric tons of rare earth products and 700 metric tons of rare metal
products. Molycorp also owns Molycorp Metals and Alloys in Tolleson,
Arizona. Formerly known as Santoku America, Inc., the facility is one of
the leading producers of high-purity rare earth alloys and metals
outside of China, and manufactures neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) alloy
and samarium cobalt (SmCo) alloy, as well as other specialty alloys and
products. Following the execution of Molycorp's 'mine-to-magnets'
strategy and the expected 2012 completion of Phase 1 of its
modernization and expansion efforts at its Mountain Pass, California
processing facility, Molycorp expects to produce at a rate of
approximately 19,050 metric tons of REO equivalent per year from
Mountain Pass. The Company expects to achieve an annual production
capacity at Mountain Pass by the end of 2013 of approximately 40,000
metric tons of REO equivalent after the completion of Phase 2. Molycorp
intends to provide to the market a range of rare earth products,
including high-purity oxides, metals, alloys, and permanent magnets. The
company currently sells products to customers in Europe, North and South
America, Asia, Russia, and other previous Soviet Union countries.
About KBR
KBR is a global engineering, construction and services company
supporting the energy, hydrocarbon, government services, minerals, civil
infrastructure, power, industrial, and commercial markets. For more
information, visit www.kbr.com.
Safe Harbor Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that represent
Molycorp′s beliefs, projections and predictions about future events or
Molycorp′s future performance. Forward-looking statements can be
identified by terminology such as 'may,? 'will,? 'would,? 'could,?
'should,? 'expect,? 'intend,? 'plan,? 'anticipate,? 'believe,?
'estimate,? 'predict,? 'potential,? 'continue? or the negative of these
terms or other similar expressions or phrases. These forward-looking
statements are necessarily subjective and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause
Molycorp′s actual results, performance or achievements or industry
results to differ materially from any future results, performance or
achievement described in or implied by such statements.
Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected
results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to: Molycorp′s ability to secure sufficient capital to implement
its business plans; Molycorp′s ability to complete its Phase 1
modernization and expansion efforts and Phase 2 expansion efforts and
reach full planned production rates for REOs and other planned
downstream products; the final costs of the Phase 1 modernization and
expansion plan and Phase 2 expansion, which may differ from estimated
costs; uncertainties associated with Molycorp′s reserve estimates and
non-reserve deposit information; uncertainties regarding global supply
and demand for rare earths materials; Molycorp′s ability to successfully
integrate recently acquired businesses; Molycorp′s ability to reach
definitive agreements for a joint venture to manufacture
neodymium-iron-boron permanent rare earth magnets and its supply and
financing arrangement with Sumitomo; Molycorp′s ability to maintain
appropriate relations with unions and employees; Molycorp′s ability to
successfully implement its 'mine-to-magnets? strategy; environmental
laws, regulations and permits affecting Molycorp′s business, directly
and indirectly, including, among others, those relating to mine
reclamation and restoration, climate change, emissions to the air and
water and human exposure to hazardous substances used, released or
disposed of by Molycorp; and uncertainties associated with unanticipated
geological conditions related to mining.
For more information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties
that Molycorp may face, see the section entitled 'Risk Factors? of the
Company′s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2010 filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement contained in this
press release or the Annual Report on Form 10-K reflects Molycorp′s
current views with respect to future events and Molycorp assumes no
obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements
for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ
materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements,
even if new information becomes available in the future, except as
otherwise required by applicable law.
Molycorp, Inc.
Jim Sims, +1 303-843-8062
Vice
President, Corporate Communications
Jim.Sims@Molycorp.com
or
Investor
Relations
ICR, LLC
Gary T. Dvorchak, CFA, +1 310-954-1123
Senior
Vice President
Gary.Dvorchak@icrinc.com