Molymet to build new US$17mn plant

Chilean molybdenum producer Molymet has submitted to regulators an environmental impact statement for a US$17.4mn project to build a new plant and modernize other facilities at its complex in San Bernardo, south of capital Santiago. The plant will be used to treat 40t/d molybdenum concentrates, increasing output capacity of molybdenum oxide by 20%, according to the document. But the main purpose of the project is not to boost production as much as make the process more efficient, Molymet commercial manager Francisco Ruiz told BNamericas. He said the company's Chilean plants currently turn out 20,800t of molybdenum contain in oxides. Molymmet, one of the world's largest molybdenum producers, also makes rhenium, copper and sulfuric acid as by-products. The project will also involve modernizing other plants at the San Bernardo complex and moving the company's rhenium refinery to the same area as its molybdenum extraction plant. The San Bernardo complex contains 13 plants in total. Molymet also has production facilities in Cumpas, in northern Mexico's Sonora state, operated by its subsidiary Molymex, and in Bitterfeld, Germany and Ghent, Belgium. Molymet posted earnings of US$19.1mn for 2002, up 19% on the previous year's US$16.0mn. The company sold 24,682t of the metal last year, down from 26,830t in 2001, although average prices rose to US$6.07/kg from US$4.66/kg.