| TECHNOLOGY |
Traditional Method
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Molycorp's Innovations
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Ore Milling & Processing
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The legacy mill and processing facility at Mountain Pass could achieve a recovery rate of only about 50-55% of rare earths from the ore to solution.
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Molycorp’s new facility incorporates a variety of operational improvements to dramatically increase rare earth recovery rates, which will extend the life of the resource.
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| Chemical Reagent Use |
Traditional processes at Mountain Pass required between 15-25 tanker trucks per day of chemical reagents that were transported by truck to the facility, from locations such as Las Vegas, NV and beyond.
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Molycorp’s new facility will recycle salt water produced in the operation and use it as a feedstock to produce new chemical reagents in a continuous closed recycling loop.
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| Power Generation & Use |
Mountain Pass’ traditional process required large amounts of costly grid power from the local utility. Poor power quality and service interruptions increased production costs. Many pieces of on-site equipment used high-emission fuels such as diesel, propane and “bunker fuel.”
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The on-site natural gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant at the new facility will provide high quality power and steam, increasing system efficiency and greatly cutting production costs. Other combustion operations across the new facility will use cleaner-burning natural gas.
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| Fresh Water Use |
Traditional rare earth operations require large amounts of fresh water pumped from local underground sources, which then produced large amounts of wastewater as a byproduct.
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Molycorp’s new facility will recycle process water used in the operation, dramatically reducing the need for fresh water.
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Waste Water Production
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Legacy processes produced up to 850 gallons per minute of waste saltwater at Mountain Pass, which had to be piped miles away to permitted evaporation ponds for disposal.
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The new plant at Mountain Pass will be a near-zero wastewater disposal facility, recycling virtually all process water. |
Evaporation Ponds
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Mountain Pass used to require extensive use of evaporation ponds to deal with waste water produced by legacy systems.
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Molycorp’s new facility will recycle process wastewater, eliminating the need for over 120 acres of evaporation ponds.
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| Tailings Dams |
The business-as-usual process at Mountain Pass required storing mine tailings and process water behind a tailings dam.
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Molycorp’s new facility will form a paste by removing most of the water from tailings. The water will be recycled and the paste will be deposited in successive layers that achieve structural integrity in a short time period, eliminating the need for a tailings dam.
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Air Emissions
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The traditional processes at Mountain Pass produced significant emissions per unit of production.
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Molycorp’s new processes will increase overall system efficiency and reduce air emissions – including CO2 – as compared to the business-as-usual technology approach.
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Desert Tortoise Protection & Species Recovery
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The previous facility conducted endangered species protection protocols according to permit requirements. |
Molycorp worked closely with the Bureau of Land Management and other stakeholders to develop an innovative “Desert Tortoise Conservation Facility” in the local area, which will help promote species population recovery.
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Below is a downloadable fact sheet of the table above as well as Molycorp's commitment to superior environmental stewardship:
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Molycorp's Environmental Superiority and Technological Innovations
PDF 173 Kb
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