By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Moly Investing News

Molybdenum prices have crashed from a high of $35 per pound at the end of October down to the recent level of US$12 per pound.

This represents the worst decline when it comes to commodity prices; a 53 per cent drop to be exact. Oil followed with a 51 per cent decline, copper was down 49 per cent, nickel fell 43 per cent, aluminum dipped 34 per cent and zinc dropped 33 per cent. The molybdenum industry received shocking news last week; the fact the Sprott Moly Fund would liquidate. 

It is not all doom and gloom in the industry; junior miner Nanika Resources has secured yet another $500,000 placement.  Unlike many junior exploration companies suffering through the current credit crunch, Nanika, owners of the Lucky Ship molybdenum property approximately 85 kilometers southwest of Houston, has concluded a non-brokered private placement with Mineral Fields, a Toronto-based mining fund, with gross proceeds of $500,000.The company said the proceeds of the flow-through private placement will be used for qualified Canadian exploration expenses on the company’s mineral properties in Canada. This news comes just months after the company secured other investments. Late last year the company announced they were entering into a memorandum of understanding with Palm Clean Energy Inc. and Daewon Chemical Co. Ltd. of South Korea, confirming intentions to form a joint venture company. The new joint venture company will hold continued exploration, development and mining rights to the Lucky Ship molybdenum project located. Drilling has shown that the property sits on 92 million tonnes of molybdenum with a grade of 0.3 or higher.

Augusta Resource Corporation has updated the August 2007 Bankable Feasibility Study on its 100 per cent-owned Rosemont Copper Project in Pima County, Arizona. The Updated Feasibility Study re-confirms Rosemont as an economically robust open pit copper and molybdenum mine. Using long-term metal pricing of $1.85 per pound of copper, $15 per pound of molybdenum, and $12 per ounce of silver, the project would generate a net present value of approximately $1.2 billion with an internal rate of return of 17.8 per cent.  Cash costs are estimated at $0.62 per pound of copper, net of by-product credits. The mine life based on current mineral reserves is 21 years, with cathode production commencing in the fourth quarter 2011 and concentrate production in the first quarter of 2012. The mining process at Rosemont will be a conventional modern hard rock open pit operation. The open pit mine, concentrator and leaching facilities will include a nominal concentrator production capacity of 75,000 tonnes per day. The proposed Rosemont mine is expected to produce annually 221 million pounds of recovered copper, 4.7 million pounds of recovered molybdenum, 2.4 million ounces of recovered silver and approximately 15 thousand ounces of gold as a by-product credit over a 20 year-plus mine life.

Roca Mines ltd. will be completing a non-brokered private placement. Roca aims to $1 million through the issuance of 4,000,000 units at a price of $0.25 per unit. Proceeds from this financing will be used for general working capital. Each unit will consist of one common share of Roca and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.35 for 24 months from the closing date. All shares and warrants issued under this private placement will be subject to a four month hold period.

Western Troy Capital Resources Inc. (TSX.V: WRY) recently announced its plans for 2009. In addition to the completion of the feasibility study for its MacLeod Lake Molybdenum/Copper Project, Western Troy plans to drill its Galloway Molybdenum Prospect, perform trenching and surface sampling at its molybdenum prospects near Inmet Mining’s Troilus Mine, and perform preliminary assessments on its 8 other molybdenum, uranium, and gold prospects. All of these projects and prospects are located in Quebec, where exploration expenditures are eligible for the Province’s rebates of approximately 45 per cent of such spending.  Western Troy’s President, Rex Loesby, commented, “”The current economic turmoil and low commodity prices have resulted in a fundamental change in our cash flow planning. Western Troy’s objectives for 2009, in order of priority, are to: complete the MacLeod Lake feasibility stud, perform exploration work on more encouraging prospects in Quebec, preserve cash (Western Troy has sufficient cash to complete the MacLeod Lake feasibility study and perform the exploration work on other prospects and still have over $1 million in the treasury in the spring of 2010), and finally to evaluate acquisitions.

By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Moly Investing News

Molybdenum prices have crashed from a high of $35 per pound at the end of October down to the recent level oft US $12 per pound. This represents the worst decline when it comes to commodity prices; a 53 percent drop to be exact. Oil followed with a 51% decline, copper was down 49%, nickel fell 43%, aluminum dipped 34% and zinc dropped 33%. The molybdenum industry received shocking news last week, the fact the Sprott Moly Fund would liquidate.

It is not all doom and gloom in the industry; junior miner Nanika Resources has secured yet another $500,000 placement.  Unlike many junior exploration companies suffering through the current credit crunch, Nanika, owners of the Lucky Ship molybdenum property approximately 85 kilometers southwest of Houston, has concluded a non-brokered private placement with Mineral Fields, a Toronto-based mining fund, with gross proceeds of $500,000.The company said the proceeds of the flow-through private placement will be used for qualified Canadian exploration expenses on the company’s mineral properties in Canada. This news comes just months after the company secured other investment. Late last year the company announced they were entering into a memorandum of understanding with Palm Clean Energy Inc. and Daewon Chemical Co. Ltd. of South Korea, confirming intentions to form a joint venture company. The new joint venture company will hold continued exploration, development and mining rights to the Lucky Ship molybdenum project located. Drilling has shown that the property sits on 92 million tonnes of molybdenum with a grade of 0.3 or higher.

Augusta Resource Corporation has updated the August 2007 Bankable Feasibility Study on its 100%-owned Rosemont Copper Project in Pima County, Arizona. The Updated Feasibility Study re-confirms Rosemont as an economically robust open pit copper and molybdenum mine. Using long-term metal pricing of $1.85 per pound of copper, $15 per pound of molybdenum, and $12 per ounce of silver, the project would generate a net present value of approximately $1.2 billion with an internal rate of return of 17.8 percent.  Cash costs are estimated at $0.62 per pound of copper, net of by-product credits. The mine life based on current mineral reserves is 21 years, with cathode production commencing in the fourth quarter 2011 and concentrate production in the first quarter of 2012. The mining process at Rosemont will be a conventional modern hard rock open pit operation. The open pit mine, concentrator and leaching facilities will include a nominal concentrator production capacity of 75,000 tonnes per day. The proposed Rosemont mine is expected to produce annually 221 million pounds of recovered copper, 4.7 million pounds of recovered molybdenum, 2.4 million ounces of recovered silver and approximately 15 thousand ounces of gold as a by-product credit over a 20 year-plus mine life.

Roca Mines ltd. will be completing a non-brokered private placement. Roca aims to $1 million through the issuance of 4,000,000 units at a price of $0.25 per unit. Proceeds from this financing will be used for general working capital. Each unit will consist of one common share of Roca and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.35 for 24 months from the closing date. All shares and warrants issued under this private placement will be subject to a four month hold period.

Western Troy Capital Resources Inc. (TSX.V: WRY) recently announced its plans for 2009. In addition to the completion of the feasibility study for its MacLeod Lake Molybdenum/Copper Project, Western Troy plans to drill its Galloway Molybdenum Prospect, perform trenching and surface sampling at its molybdenum prospects near Inmet Mining’s Troilus Mine, and perform preliminary assessments on its 8 other molybdenum, uranium, and gold prospects. All of these projects and prospects are located in Quebec, where exploration expenditures are eligible for the Province’s rebates of approximately 45% of such spending.  Western Troy’s President, Rex Loesby, commented, “”The current economic turmoil and low commodity prices have resulted in a fundamental change in our cash flow planning. Western Troy’s objectives for 2009, in order of priority, are to:  Complete the MacLeod Lake feasibility stud, perform exploration work on more encouraging prospects in Quebec, preserve cash (Western Troy has sufficient cash to complete the MacLeod Lake feasibility study and perform the exploration work on other prospects and still have over $1 million in the treasury in the spring of 2010), and finally to evaluate acquisitions.