How much thorium would be in the waste processed from monazite? And are they permitted to turn monazite waste (higher in thorium) into waste paste and allowed to store it on a liner system where erosion (especially from dryness and wind) could easily spread the thorium? I also blame the media and analysts for these “holes” in that Moly is so rarely challenged for such a weak approach they have already become use to half a plan with a lot of nonsense.

And every Q & A is all shops and all questions on numbers with nothing on these holes in the Moly plans. And how does that make sense in a stock with a PE way over 100?

@Ausheds: I’ve not really seen any red flags pertaining to Molycorp’s ability to produce the Ce, La and Nd-Pr-based products that they say will constitute 99% of their production going forward.

@Shawn: Molycorp’s Mr. Smith specifically mentioned on the conference call, that they established the capability of producing Nd metal at their Sillamae facility in Estonia last month. That facility was already producing other types of rare metals. It’s my understanding that the Molycorp Tolleson facility also produces rare-earth metals, though I am not sure of which specific types.

With regard to your other comments concerning Mountain Pass, I can’t say that I’ve come across any evidence that would suggest that there is an issue of the facility being a “toxic waste dump”, despite the rhetoric of certain activists and others. Given the scrutiny of the authorities in California, I find it hard to believe that such issues, if they existed, would not have already been addressed.

@Toly: I don’t recall the issue of taxes being discussed on the call, but you could check the transcript of the call, which is available at Seeking Alpha: http://bit.ly/tSqvxt.

From a Seeking Alpha article 4/25/2011;

“… Molycorp currently also has mining claims on what they estimate is the second richest rare earth deposit in North America and it’s a three minute walk or van drive from the open pit at Mountain Pass. It is the tailings pit that contains 10-20 million tons of tailings created by the 50+ year operational history of Mountain Pass. The estimated TREO of the tailings pit is 4-5% with four to five times the HREE/TREO percentage found in the main Mountain Pass ore body.”
and;

“…it was kind of surreal realizing that the richest rare earth deposit in North America was the source of the second richest and that the new Molycorp facilities are literally a two minute walk from it.”

Also;

“The reason no one is talking about this tailings pit which could add an additional ten years of full production to the mine life of Mountain Pass is because it is a non-compliant resource. We asked management why they wouldn’t try to upgrade it to a compliant resource and we were told that if the compliant resource is higher then the property tax bill will go higher. Management indicated their goal is to have a compliant resource to supply 30 years of mine life and based on our calculations they technically do right now before adjusting for Phase II doubling capacity, so the way we see it there is no need to upgrade this tailings pit to being a compliant resource for many years to come.”

Thanks…
Jay

http://seekingalpha.com/article/265291-molycorp-s-project-phoenix-rising-along-with-its-npv