Industrial/Specialty Minerals


Molycorp delivers on magnet-making jv

In August Molycorp’s (MCP-N) proposed partnership with Hitachi Metals to create a joint-venture that would manufacture neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) alloy and permanent  rare earth magnets fell through when the two companies failed to reach…


Mark Smith, Molycorp's president and CEO. For more than 24 years, Smith has been involved in the operation and development of the Mountain Pass rare earth element mine in southeastern California, seen in the background. Photo by Trish Saywell

Molycorp’s Mountain Pass: A made-in-America solution

In late October Molycorp (MCP-N) bused journalists from Fortune, Wired, Mother Jones and The Northern Miner, among others, down Interstate Highway 15 from Las Vegas to meet president and chief executive Mark Smith and tour the company’s…


Orocobre – Argentina’s next low-cost lithium producer?

Brisbane-based Orocobre (ORL-T, ORE-A) is looking to become a significant new producer of lithium with its advanced-stage Salar de Olaroz lithium-potash brine project in northwestern Argentina. The company already has a definitive feasibility…


Allana sketches a $796M capex for Dallol

Allana Potash (aaa-t) has started painting a somewhat rosy picture at its Dallol potash project in Ethiopia with a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA), estimating start-up costs at US$796 million.


Molycorp president and CEO Mark Smith at the Mountain Pass rare earth element mine in southeastern California. Photo by Trish Saywell.

Molycorp: A Made-in-America solution

In late October Molycorp (MCP-N) bused journalists from Fortune, Wired, Mother Jones and The Northern Miner, among others, down Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to meet president and chief executive Mark Smith and tour the company’s Mountain Pass…


Workers cap a drill hole that encountered artesian conditions at Rodinia Lithium's Salar de Diablillos project in Salta province, Argentina. Photo by Rodinia Lithium

Rodinia shares jump on PEA findings

Shares of Rodinia Lithium (RM-V) surged 42% to close at 30.5¢ on Nov. 8 after the junior exploration and development company released results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of its lithium brine project in northern Argentina’s…



D'Arianne Resources' Lac  Paul phosphate-titanium project in southeastern Quebec. Photo by D'Arianne Resources

Arianne’s Lac Paul to be ‘next generation’ mine

A prefeasibility study for D’Arianne Resources’ (DAN-V) Lac à Paul phosphate-titanium project in southeastern Quebec has placed the project “among the most attractive of the next generation of phosphate rock mines,” according to Bernard…



Facilities at Atacama Minerals' Aguas Blancas iodine-sulphate-nitrate mine in northern Chile. Photo by Atacama Minerals

The Red Back team returns at Atacama

 The former Red Back Mining team led by Richard Clark has returned to advance Atacama Minerals (AAM-V), using the same strategies they used to build Red Back from a junior with a $50-million market cap into a West African gold producer…


Western Potash passes another milestone

Western Potash (WPX-T) has put a spotlight on its Milestone potash project in Saskatchewan with a positive prefeasibility study (PFS) estimating annual production at 2.8 million tonnes for at least 40 years. This has some analysts speculating…


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