ausheds:Hey Chi, welcome back, you should pop in more often. ATM...

ausheds:Hey Chi, welcome back, you should pop in more often. ATM plan to be in Austin for the V8 Supercars in May, mate's taking his team across and got some friends coming up from Houston, if your in the area.

I go all over the Republic (Texas). Tell me the times and where in Texas and we should be able to meet. It would be fun. I've enjoyed meeting bloggers in the past and your knowledge and interest is certainly shared.


On a possible Moly sale,
I don't see much of the fuss once we strip out the unproven Smith promises. Mountain Pass is mostly LEE. At current prices, technology and production there is not enough reality or CREE's there to make them interesting to buy or strategic to the Department of Defense IMO.

I think Americans are less protectionist than this blog seems to assume. The DOD might be the most protectionist business element in the US (and thus one of the most inefficient). But I think when Chevron wanted to sell Moly the problem was not that the buyer was foreign, rather it was because the buyer was Chinese and wanted the whole oil company. Any Western buyer could have had Mountain Pass at the time or now IMO. And at this point nearly every decent sized Western company is here and welcome in the US. The problem is the current Moly is insignificant and a build up would not happen until a bankruptcy would be near completion or done.

And when we look at the proven Moly, why buy? The Co-gen is a good idea but not a surprise or game changer. The recycled chemicals maybe less advanced then LAMP and remain late and unproven. The waste disposal is not new technology and is available for most basnasite mines. There is nothing new in Estonia. The NEO part is ok, but was clearly overvalued and shows no new progress. So what is the real Moly?

I think a buyer is mostly looking at Smith hype that bothered the SEC and proved too silly for even the Moly board. Looking back, Moly is mostly a hedge fund purchased and hyped story designed to make a quick buck on a market generated spike in REE prices. What remains of the good long term REE story probably does not apply well to the true Moly IMO.