US rare earth producer Molycorp Inc. has signed a “definitive agreement” to buy leading Canada-based rare earth processor Neo Material Technologies Inc. for C$1.3bn ($1.31bn).
The deal is intended, Molycorp’s CEO Mark Smith said, to “enhance our mine-to-magnets vision and place Molycorp in all steps of the vertical rare earth supply chain, reaching many new segments across the globe”.
Jon Hykawy, analyst at Byron Capital markets described the purchase as “huge”.
Neo MaterialÊis a long-time rare earth processor that is headquartered in Toronto but its actual processing facilities are mostly located in China, where the majority of rare earths are mined.
Molycorp, on the other hand, is principally a rare earth miner but its resources are located in California, US, and it has at present no offices in China. It is expanding its Mountain Pass resource to...