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The Revolutionary Potential Of XSORBX™ for Molycorp Posted on 1/3/2012 7:45:00 AM
Cerium is the most prevalent rare earth in Molycorp's ore body, as it is in nearly all rare earth ore bodies, with the exception of the south China ionic clays. Historically, it has been the least valuable of the rare earths. However, through our XSORBX™ suite of products, Molycorp is now able to sell our cerium into a wide variety of markets at prices reflective of water treatment technologies.
A Remarkable Technology
Led by Molycorp Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, Dr. John L. Burba, our team of scientists initially discovered that XSORBX™ has a particularly strong affinity for arsenic, a heavy metal that many water treatment facilities around the world have difficulty removing cost-effectively.
XSORBX™ also bonds and helps to remove other heavy metals, such as lead, chromium, and mercury, as well as fluorides, phosphates, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. Preliminary testing has demonstrated that it addresses viruses and bacteria, with an effectiveness that could be many times greater than standard disinfection methods, such as bleach. We are continuing to develop and refine these capabilities.
In its evolution from bench to pilot to commercial scale, XSORBX™ has been rigorously tested by the Water Quality Association (WQA) and independent labs to meet capacity and toxicity standards as set forth by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). Even with these important credentials, we are continuing to develop a granular form to take its efficacy even further.
Given the enormous potential of this technology, Molycorp devised a global patent strategy to protect its property rights in XSORBX™. This now encompasses over 300 issued and pending patents filed in the U.S. and internationally.
Markets for XSORBX™
We have identified four key markets for XSORBX™:
- Municipal and industrial wastewater;
- Recreational, pool, and spa;
- Municipal drinking water; and
- Consumer water purification, such as tabletop pitchers, backpacking water filters, etc.
In the municipal and industrial wastewater treatment markets, XSORBX™ is particularly effective at removing phosphorous and struvite, both major problems for these facilities. In fact, our research shows that an estimated 330 major U.S. industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities exceeded the daily maximum discharge limit for phosphorous between 2007 and 2010.
In industrial wastewater treatment applications, XSORBX™ costs less than conventional methods, produces one-third the waste volume, enables the use of lower-cost feed stocks, and helps to recover other valuable metals that would otherwise end up in process waste streams.
In the recreational, pool, and spa markets, XSORBX™'s ability to remove phosphate is especially attractive, given that this pollutant encourages unwanted algae growth. XSORBX™ bonds to phosphate and creates a stable and non-toxic particle, which can easily be filtered and removed.
Molycorp's early market seeding efforts with XSORBX™ have gained significant traction, and we are receiving very positive feedback on our products. Based on continued market acceptance, we allocated 20 percent of our Phase 1 production to these products. As we continue to build the pipeline of demand, we believe that these volumes will prove to be only the starting point in a large, inelastic water market.
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Safe Harbor Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This article 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, uncertainties associated with Molycorp’s reserve estimates and non-reserve deposit information, and uncertainties regarding our ability to successfully market and sell XSORBX™. 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 article 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. |
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