Molycorp Pops 2% on Cali Reserve Increase

Shares of Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) are seeing some strength during Monday's pre-market trading session after the company announced its rare earth reserves increased 36% at its Mountain Pass mine in California.Molycorp announced that its proven and probable reserves of rare earth minerals at its Mountain Pass, California facility have increased by 36 percent, according to a new independent estimate.The updated estimate, based on the SEC's rigorous "Industry Guide 7" definition of proven and probable mineral reserves, expands Molycorp's reserves to 18.4 million short tons of rare earth ore, at an ore grade of 7.98% and a cut-off grade of 5%. This compares to a previous 2010 estimate of Molycorp's proven and probable reserves of 13.6 million short tons. Both independent analyses were done by SRK Consulting of Lakewood, Colorado, an industry mining consulting firm that specializes in such estimates.SRK now estimates that the proven and probable component of Molycorp's ore body contains approximately 2.94 billion pounds (1.3 million metric tons) of contained rare earth oxide equivalent. This compares to the previous estimate of 2.24 billion pounds of contained REO product (1.02 million metric tons).Currently, shares of Molycorp are trading about 1.7% highr at $33.75 per share.