Transition metal with various properties

New molybdenum plant in Mejillones/Chile

Summary: Codelco, the National Copper Corporation of Chile, will invest 400 million US$ to build a new industrial processing plant for molybdenum, with which it hopes to strengthen its position as one of the major molybdenum producers in the world. In 2011 Codelco sold 22 800 t of this metal, which is primarily used for steel hardening (source: //www.mining.com" target="_blank" >www.mining.com:www.mining.com).

The new molybdenum processing facility will be built on a 20 ha plot of land in the port of Mejillones, in the Province of Antofagasta (Fig. 1). There are another 20 ha adjacent to the new facility for stockpiling solid waste. The new molybdenum processing facility will process 16 000 tons of molybdenum trioxide as of 2015. The products and byproducts produced by the facility will be: commercial grade molybdenum oxide (MoO), ferro molybdenum (FeMo), rhenium (Re), copper cement and 98 % sulfuric acid.

Japan is currently the largest consumer of molybdenum and played an important part in securing...

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