Shares of Molycorp Inc. surged Wednesday on news that the Greenwood Village-based mining firm would supply rare earth minerals for Siemens AG’s wind turbines for the next 10 years.
Molycorp’s stock gained 77 percent to close at 95 cents.
Under the agreement, Molycorp’s Mountain Pass, Calif., facility will provide materials to Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd., a producer of rare earth magnets that are used in Siemens’ direct drive wind turbines.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Shin-Etsu’s engineering process is designed to reduce the levels of heavy rare earth elements in the magnets, officials said in a news release.
“The contract with Shin-Etsu and Molycorp is an important step for us in sourcing magnet materials for our direct drive wind turbines,” Morten Rasmussen, head of technology at Siemens wind power and renewables division, said in the statement. “We strive for diversification in the sourcing of these components to improve independency from specific markets.”
