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| mo·lyb·de·num (m-lbd-nm) n. Symbol Mo A hard metallic element that is an essential trace element in plant and animal nutrition. Atomic number 42; atomic weight 95.94 Why Moly? |
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| • Molybdenum is an industrial metal that is primarily used to make tool steel and stainless steel, such as oil drilling steel and pipeline steel. • Historically, there has been a glut of moly because most of it is produced as a byproduct of copper. • During the 1990s, mine production was high compared to demand resulting in low metal prices, so few new mines were discovered or developed. • Due to the collapse of communism and the gradual acceptance of capitalism in China in the mid 1980s, the Chinese economy began to grow at a rapid pace. • China was once a major exporter of many metals, but in 2002 it began to import moly. • As a result, in combination with rising demand from India and other Asian countries and lack of new sources of moly, prices began to rise. • It will take several years for new mine production to satisfy the rising demand, so prices should stay high. • The moly resource at Ashdown was initially drilled and a bulk sample was mined in 1982-83 during a short period of high prices, so the location, size and grade of the deposit are well known. • As a result, the time it is taking to begin production at Ashdown is relatively short compared to most other moly mines. • Also, Ashdown has some of the highest grade molybdenum ever mined, so the risk of development is believed by management to be relatively low. (WEX has not completed a National Instrument 43-101 compliant economic analysis of the deposit) |
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