Molycorp to Launch Sequential Start-up of New, State-of-the-Art Rare Earth Manufacturing Facility This Week

Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) today announced that the sequential start-up
of the new Project Phoenix rare earth manufacturing facility at its
flagship Mountain Pass, California operation will begin this week and
includes the following operations and plants:

An up-close photo of Molycorp's (MCP) Crushing Facility. (Photo: Business Wire)

• 
  Active mining at a full mine production rate of approximately 2,800
  short tons of fresh rare earth ore has been underway for several weeks.
  
• 
  Mechanical completion of the new Crushing Facility has been achieved
  and fresh ore will be introduced.
  
• 
  Mechanical completion of the initial Cracking Facility has been
  achieved, steam testing has been completed, and feedstock from
  stockpiled material will be fed into the system.
  
• 
  Liquid natural gas (LNG) has been trucked to the site and offloaded
  into the onsite storage terminal. The LNG system associated with the
  Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant will be pressurized and the first
  test firing of the turbines in the CHP plant will occur. LNG is being
  used for start-up operations until pipeline natural gas becomes
  available upon completion of current construction of a feeder line to
  the facility, expected to be completed in April of this year.
  

Other operations in the Project Phoenix facility that will be brought
online over the coming months include the following: milling and mineral
extraction; expanded cracking; impurities removal; rare earth oxide
separations; product finishing; and paste tailings processing and
storage.

'The launch of Project Phoenix′s sequential start-up is occurring well
ahead of our April 1 deadline, and represents the accomplishment of a
critical milestone in our project,? said Mark A. Smith, Molycorp
President and Chief Executive Officer. 'When this new manufacturing
facility is complete and running at full capacity, it will be the most
technologically advanced, energy efficient, and environmentally superior
rare earth facility in the world.?

Molycorp also confirmed that it remains on track to achieve its full
Phase 1 annual production rate of 19,050 mt of rare earth oxide
equivalent by the end of the third quarter of 2012. The Company′s
achievement of Phase 1 production will come three months ahead of the
original Dec. 31, 2012 deadline that was set when the project was
launched in 2010.

'I continue to be inspired and humbled by the dedication and hard work
of our Molycorp family, and the more than 1,100 construction workers now
building this new facility,? Smith said. 'I could not be more proud of
the Company′s ability to achieve these critical milestones on an
accelerated basis.?

The Company said that further updates regarding Project Phoenix will be
provided in Molycorp's Q4 / year-end earnings announcement and
conference call on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012.

About Molycorp, Inc.

With offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, Molycorp, Inc. is the only
U.S-based company that is fully integrated across the rare earth
mine-to-magnets supply chain. In addition to its current production of
rare earth oxides at its flagship rare earth mine and processing
facility at Mountain Pass, California, the Company produces rare earth
metals, rare earth alloys (such as neodymium-iron-boron and
samarium-cobalt alloys) and rare metals such as niobium and tantalum.
The rare earths and rare metals Molycorp produces are critical inputs in
existing and emerging applications including: clean energy technologies,
such as hybrid and electric vehicles and wind power turbines; multiple
high-tech uses, including fiber optics, lasers and hard disk drives;
numerous defense applications, such as guidance and control systems and
global positioning systems; advanced water treatment technology for use
in industrial, military and outdoor recreation applications; and other
technologies. For more information please visit http://www.molycorp.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
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 additional capital to implement
its business plans; Molycorp′s ability to complete its initial
modernization and expansion efforts, including the accelerated start-up
of the Mountain Pass facility, which management refers to as Project
Phoenix Phase 1, and the second phase capacity expansion plan, which
management refer to as Project Phoenix Phase 2, and reach full planned
production rates for REOs and other planned downstream products; the
final costs of the Project Phoenix Phase 1, including with accelerated
start-up of the Mountain Pass facility, and Project Phoenix Phase 2,
which may differ from estimated costs; uncertainties associated with
Molycorp′s reserve estimates and non-reserve deposit information;
uncertainties regarding the results of exploratory drilling programs;
uncertainties regarding global supply and demand for rare earths
materials; Molycorp′s ability to successfully integrate recently
acquired businesses; our ability to enter into additional definitive
agreements with our customers and our ability to maintain customer
relationships; completion of the formation of the proposed sintered
NdFeB rare earth magnet joint venture, which remains subject to the
satisfaction of customary closing conditions; the proposed sintered
NdFeB rare earth magnet joint venture′s ability to successfully
manufacture magnets within its expected timeframe; 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 and of the Company′s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarterly period ended March 31, 2011. Any forward-looking statement
contained in this press release or the Annual Report on Form 10-K or the
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q reflects Molycorp′s current views with
respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks,
uncertainties and assumptions relating to Molycorp′s operations,
operating results, growth strategy and liquidity. You should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because such
statements speak only as to the date when made. 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.

Photos/Multimedia ?Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50174954&lang=en

Molycorp, Inc.

Jim Sims, +1 303-843-8062

Vice
President, Corporate Communications

Jim.Sims@Molycorp.com

or

Brian
Blackman, +1 303-843-8067

Senior Manager, Investor Relations

Brian.Blackman@Molycorp.com