Climax Molybdenum Company, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, is committed to being the world’s quality, safety and reliability leader in molybdenum and metal-based products for a variety of high-value applications in the steel, oil, chemical, automotive, aerospace, construction, electronics and general industries.
Working for us means you’re part of a team with strengths including:
Extensive market knowledge and experience
Customer focus and passion for partnerships
Technology focused company capable of assisting customers with their current and future needs
Unmatched processing capability within our target metal-based focus areas
Application of material science to provide value exceeding customer expectations
Environmental steward and safety leader
MINING OPERATIONS
The company operates two molybdenum mines in the state of Colorado – the Henderson underground mine and the Climax open-pit mine. These mines produce high-purity, chemical-grade molybdenum concentrates, which typically are further processed into value-added molybdenum chemical products.
The majority of the molybdenum concentrates produced at the Henderson and Climax mines, as well as from certain of our North and South America copper mines, are processed at our own conversion facilities.
Climax
Leadville, Colorado
Molybdenum mine
The Climax mine, re-commissioned in mid-2012, is located in Leadville, a charming, historic mountain town 100 miles southwest of Denver. Known as North America’s highest incorporated city, Leadville’s elevation is 10,430 feet. The Climax mine is an open-pit operation with a projected mine life of more than 20 years.
Henderson Operations
Empire, Colorado - Molybdenum mine
Parshall, Colorado - Molybdenum mill
Henderson operations consists of a block-cave underground mine and a mill separated by the Continental Divide, making for a one-hour drive between the two sites. The mine and mill are connected by the world’s largest conveyor of its kind: a 10-mile conveyor tunnel under the Continental Divide and an additional 5-mile surface conveyor. The mine’s location in Empire (42 miles west of Denver) and the mill in Parshall (100 miles west of Denver) make both a spectacular area for hiking, biking, rafting and skiing in the Rocky Mountains.
CONVERSION FACILITIES
The company's state-of-the-art processing facilities in Arizona and Iowa in the United States, Netherlands (Rotterdam), United Kingdom (Stowmarket), Japan (Tokyo) and China (Shanghai).
Fort Madison, Iowa – Located on the banks of the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa, the Fort Madison facility is the world’s largest and highest-quality producer of lubricant-grade molybdenum disulfide, sublimed pure molybdic oxide, calcined pure molybdic oxide, ammonium dimolybdate, ammonium heptamolybdate, ammonium octamolybdate and sodium molybdate.
Rotterdam, Netherlands – The Rotterdam plant in The Netherlands is one of two chemical conversion plants operated by Climax Molybdenum. The plant is a short distance from Rotterdam harbor and its associated and diverse transportation network serving Europe. This plant, that started production in 1965, delivers technical molybdic oxide, ammonium molybdate and pure molybdic oxide to customers worldwide.
Sahuarita, Arizona – The Climax Technology Center located in Sahuarita, Arizona, is a state-of-the-art metals processing plant that incorporates the most advanced technologies available for the production of molybdenum metal powders and pellets suitable for various applications.
Stowmarket, United Kingdom – The Climax Stowmarket plant in the United Kingdom is one of the world’s premier production and conversion facilities for ferromolybdenum. The efforts to meet and exceed customer requirements have been a prime focus resulting in many customer quality awards.