Shares of rare-earth producer Molycorp keep rising

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Shares of Molycorp Inc (MCP.N) were up nearly 10 percent on Monday, extending last week's double-digit percentage gains, as investors continued to digest the recent string of positive announcements out of the producer of rare-earth metals.

Jim Sims, Molycorp's top spokesman, said the company was not aware of any news that might be driving Monday's stock gains. But he said a number of investment blogs had picked up last week's news of the joint venture Molycorp signed with Hitachi Metals Ltd (5486.T), which sent the Greenwood, Colorado-based company's shares up 15 percent last Tuesday.

"My best guess is that news of the Hitachi deal continues to spread throughout the investment community," Sims told Reuters in an email. "I'm still seeing it spread now through blogs, etc."

Molycorp, which only went public this summer, said the joint venture with Hitachi will focus on materials used in a variety of products from computer hard drives to wind turbines.

Prices have surged for these minerals, used in everything from iPods to fluorescent light bulbs, since authorities in Beijing slashed their rare earth exports by 40 percent this summer, saying China needed them for its economic development.

Japanese companies, which bore the brunt of China's action, have been scrambling to secure reliable supplies of the minerals.

Earlier this month, Sumitomo Corp (8053.T) agreed to invest $130 million in Molycorp to secure a seven-year supply of the materials.

Also last week, Molycorp said it was ahead of schedule on re-starting mining at the Mountain Pass, California site it purchased from Chevron Mining in 2008.

Shares of Molycorp were last up 9.7 percent at $49.74 in early afternoon trading after earlier touching $50.29. Since debuting in late July at $14, the company's stock has more than tripled in value.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)