Molycorp Announces Completion of $390 Million Strategic Investment from Molymet |
| GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mar. 12, 2012– Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) (“Molycorp” or the “Company”) today announced the closing of its previously announced placement of 12.5 million shares of Molycorp common stock with Molibdenos y Metales S.A. (Molymet), for approximately $390 million.“I am pleased to see the successful closing of this transaction, as it represents an important investment in Molycorp,” said Mark A. Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Molycorp. „Molymet’s John Graell comes to the Molycorp Board with an impressive depth of experience and deep insight into the metals industry, and we are very pleased to have him join our team.”As previously disclosed, proceeds from the Molymet investment will be used by Molycorp for general corporate purposes and to bolster Molycorp’s strategic flexibility, and will likely be used to finance a portion of the cash purchase price of Molycorp’s recently announced acquisition of Neo Materials Technologies, Inc.
ABOUT MOLYCORP With offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, Molycorp, Inc. is the largest REO producer outside of China. 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. ABOUT MOLYMET With more than 70 years of experience in the ferroalloy industry, Molymet’s primary business is processing molybdenum concentrates, or molybdenite, for the obtainment and commercialization of several molybdenum final products and by-products, such as molybdenum oxide, ferromolybdenum, and rhenium. The world leader in molybdenum and rhenium processing, Molymet currently has plants in five countries:Chile, Mexico, Belgium, Germany and China, with commercial offices in England, China, the United States,Brazil and Chile. It has been listed for the past 33 years in the Chilean Commerce Exchange and, since 2010, it is a part of the IPSA index. 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 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 refers to as Project Phoenix Phase 2, and reach full planned production rates for REOs and other planned downstream products, in each case within the projected timeframe; 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 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; the satisfaction of the closing conditions necessary to complete Molymet’s investment, including our receipt of necessary government regulatory approvals; 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 endedDecember 31, 2011. 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 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. Source: Molycorp, Inc. Molycorp, Inc. |
