Molycorp to Use Grace Period to Evaluate Ways to Restructure Debt

Molycorp Inc. said it plans to take advantage of a 30-day grace period for a $3.36 million semiannual interest payment due Monday, during which the struggling rare-earths elements miner and processor plans to evaluate various options for restructuring its debt load.

Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Molycorp said the decision won't trigger any cross-default provisions in other outstanding debt before the grace period ends and shouldn't affect its current operations.

Earlier in June, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company—the only U.S. miner and processor of rare-earths elements— plans to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as this month to reduce its roughly $1.7 billion of debt.

The plan marked a dramatic turn for Molycorp, which rode temporary concerns of a shortage in rare earths—elements used in a host of electronic devices—to a $6 billion market capitalization in 2011. But since then, China has relaxed restrictions on exports of rare earths, oversupplying a market that is relatively small compared with those of coal or iron ore. Amid the glut, Molycorp has posted a three-year streak of annual losses through 2014.

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