Molycorp, owner of the world’s largest non-Chinese rare-earth-metals deposit, is considering doubling its planned production to help meet global demand after China cut export quotas.
The Greenwood Village-based company’s board asked its management to a take a “very hard” look at raising 2012 output to 40,000 tons from 20,000 tons, chief executive Mark Smith said Monday in an interview on Bloomberg Radio.
Production will be 3,000 to 5,000 tons this year, he said.
“We will be making some presentations in the first quarter to our board of directors on the economics involved of doubling production,” Smith said.
The world excluding China will require 55,000 to 60,000 tons of rare- earth metals this year, and China will export 23,000 to 24,000 tons, Smith said.
China, which accounts for more than 90 percent of global supplies, cut rare- earth export quotas by 72 percent in the second half of 2010.
Rare earths are a group of 17 metal elements used in batteries, turbines, cellphones and auto catalysts.
Molycorp climbed $7.60, or 15 percent, to $57.50 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has risen more than fourfold since the company raised $394 million in an initial public offering in July to help fund the restart of its Mountain Pass mine in California.
