Kennecott to build plant to process molybdenum

Kennecott Utah Copper will soon process the molybdenum and rhenium it pulls out as a byproduct of its Bingham Canyon Mine copper production, instead of hiring someone else to do the job. And that means more jobs, more efficiency and the potential to extend the life of the mine. Rio Tinto, Kennecott's parent company, said that it will build a $340 million molybdenum autoclave process, or MAP, facility in Magna. The facility, slated to be finished in 2012 and operating in 2013. The facility will be used for Kennecott's existing operation, from which it extracts 30 million to 40 million pounds of "moly" a year, said project manager Doug Stauffer. Deseret News