Rare earth miner Molycorp’s shares jump after CEO tells Reuters more JVs could be in the works

Shares of Molycorp jumped 2 percentage points after its CEO told Reuters that the U.S. rare earth mining company was in talks with a number of potential joint venture partners. The exclusive interview on Dec 30 came as companies, especially in Japan, scramble to find other suppliers in the wake of Chinas move to cut export quotas of the minerals, used in everything from iPods to fluorescent light bulbs. Before the Reuters headlines, Molycorp stock was up 4.5 percent. As soon as our headlines hit, the shares jumped another 2 percentage points. CEO Mark Smith also told Reuters that Molycorps Mountain Pass, California mine was on schedule to return to full production by end-2012 and affirmed its production targets.