PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Peak Resources has revealed that it is in discussions with ERP Strategic Minerals to possibly collaborate on the Mountain Pass rare earths project, in California.
ERP has entered a bid to purchase the Mountain Pass project from the administrators of Molycorp Minerals, which has applied for bankruptcy in Delaware.
Peak, along with Swiss-based investment fund Pala Investments, is in discussions to provide financial, technical and operational support to ERP for the restart and operation of Mountain Pass, should ERP be successful in acquiring the project under the US bankruptcy sale process.
The Mountain Pass mine is the only mine and processing facility for rare earths in the US, and has an operating history dating back to the 1950s. The project was most recently placed and care and maintenance after Molycorp debtors filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015.