Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin molybdaenum, which is based on Ancient Greek Μόλυβδος molybdos, meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals have been known throughout history, but the element was discovered in 1778 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele. The metal was first isolated in 1781 by Peter Jacob Hjelm.
Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 as an import-export firm by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James. The latter two ran Phelps, James & Co., the part of the organization based in Liverpool, England. The import-export firm at first exported United States cotton from the Deep South to England and imported various metals to the US needed for industrialization. With the expansion of the Western frontier in North America, the corporation acquired mines and mining companies, including the Copper Queen Mine in Cochise County, Arizona and the Dawson, New Mexico coal mines. It operated its own mines and acquired railroads to carry its products. By the late 19th century, it was known as a mining company.
Syunik is the southernmost province of Armenia. It is bordered by the Vayots Dzor Province to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave to the west, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital and largest city is the town of Kapan. The Statistical Committee of Armenia reported its population was 141,771 in the 2011 census, down from 152,684 at the 2001 census.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, is a major copper producer and operates the world's largest gold mine, the Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia.
Agarak is a village in the Meghri Municipality of the Syunik Province in southern Armenia, founded in 1949. As of 2011, the population of Agarak was 4,429.
Dastakert is a village in the Sisian Municipality of the Syunik Province in Armenia. It is located 225 km south of the capital Yerevan and 115 km northwest of the provincial centre Kapan. According to the 2016 official estimate, the current population of Dastakert is around 300.
Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) is the largest mining company in Armenia and one of the 10 leading molybdenum producers in the world. The history of ZCMC goes back to the Soviet era. In the spring of 1952, the combine released its first serial product. Initially, the mine was operated by combining underground and open pit mining. From 1957-1959 – the operation was solely open pit mining. Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine is located in the southwestern part of the Republic of Armenia, in the city of Kajaran of the Syunik region of Armenia, 30 km west of the regional center Kapan and about 350 km from the capital Yerevan. The annual production as of 2023 is 22 million tons of ore per annum. ZCMC is the largest taxpayer of the Republic of Armenia and the largest employer of Syunik region for most of the last decade. As of 2023, it has around 4,500 employees.
The mineral industry is one of the main sectors of the Armenian economy and in 2017 accounted for 30.1% of its exports.
Lernadzor is a village in the Kajaran Municipality of the Syunik Province in Armenia.
Mount Toromocho is a mountain in the Junín Region, Peru that sits next to the long established mining camp of Morococha and hosts a large polymetallic metal deposit. Toromocho means in Spanish "a bull with no horns". It is now owned by the Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco), a parent company of Chinalco Mining Corporation International (CMC). Minera Chinalco Perú S.A., a subsidiary of CMC which operates the Toromocho mine, is boosting the mine's productivity with a new production line.
Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. was a full cycle mining company with acquisition, exploration, development, and operation in North America. The corporate office was located in Denver, Colorado. The company primarily produced copper, gold, and molybdenum. Over its history, the Company evolved from being a major primary molybdenum producer to becoming a copper and gold mining company with the construction and development of the Mount Milligan mine and concentrator in British Columbia, Canada. Mount Milligan was Thompson Creek Metals principal operation and the company owned 100% of this property. The company also owned 100% of its Thompson Creek Mine in Idaho. Thompson Creek Metals owned 75% joint venture interest in two other properties, including its Endako Mine in British Columbia, and its Langeloth Metallurgical Facility (roaster) in Pennsylvania. Thompson Creek Metals had additional development projects, including the Berg property in British Columbia.
Kajaran is a town and the centre of the Kajaran Municipality of the Syunik Province in southern Armenia. It is located 356 km south of the capital Yerevan, 25 km west of the provincial centre Kapan, and 50 km north of the Armenia-Iran border.
Teghut Mine is a closed copper and molybdenum open-pit mine in Armenia's northern province of Lori in the village of Teghut with deposits valued at US$15.5 billion. In December 2014, Vallex Group launched production operations at the mine, which is a US$380 million project. In February 2018 Vallex Group published a statement announcing suspension of all operations and laying off nearly all staff.
The Ankasar mine is a large copper mine located in the south-east of Armenia in Syunik Province. Ankasar represents one of the largest copper reserve in Armenia and in the world having estimated reserves of 1.2 billion tonnes of ore grading 0.49% copper and 0.2% molybdenum.
The Sierrita Mine is a large copper mine located in the Sierrita Mountains of Arizona, in the southwestern part of the United States. The mine is located in southern Pima County, southwest of Tucson and west of Green Valley-Sahuarita.
South32 is a mining and metals company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It was spun out of BHP Billiton on 18 May 2015. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with secondary listings on the Johannesburg and London Stock Exchanges.
The geology of Armenia was shaped by geological upheaval pushed up the Earth's crust to form the Armenian Plateau 25 million years ago. This created the complex topography of Armenia.
Molybdenum mining in the United States produced 65,500 metric tons of molybdenum in 2014, worth US$1.8 billion. The US was the world's second-largest molybdenum producer, after China, and provided 25% of the world's supply of molybdenum.
Zangezur is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of the Republic of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar Iran according the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813. In Soviet times, the Goris, Kapan, Meghri and Sisian regions of the Armenian SSR were located within Zangezur, which in 1995 became part of the Syunik Province of Armenia.
