Molycorp

Molycorp is the rare-earth company at the center of Battlefield rare earths: How the U.S. lost to China. The episode says Molycorp operated the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine, became a major supplier by the 1960s, and for years held a powerful position in rare-earth markets, including supplying europium for color televisions.

The company matters because it shows that U.S. rare-earth capacity once existed but did not remain structurally protected. Mark Smith recalls that by the late 1980s, Molycorp was struggling to sell cerium and lanthanum as cheaper Chinese products entered the market. The company eventually shut down Mountain Pass after losing customers, leaving little rare-earth production outside China in the source’s account.

Molycorp later attempted a comeback through Project Phoenix after the 2010 Japan rare-earth shock caused prices to rise. The episode treats that comeback as a warning: a mine reopening can fail if the project expands before market stability, processing capability, customer demand, and price resilience are durable.

Connections

• Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine - main mine and processing site.
• Mark Smith - executive and later CEO in the episode.
• Project Phoenix - reopening and expansion plan.
• China, Rare Earth Processing Bottleneck, and Dominant Producer Price Discipline - market and supply-chain pressures behind the company’s collapse.