Property, Plant and Equipment, net (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Schedule of property, plant and equipment

At December 31, 2012 and 2011, property, plant and equipment consisted of the following (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2012			2011
Land	$	12,475		$	11,059
Land improvements (15 years)	63,269			15,748
Buildings and improvements (4 to 40 years)	237,379			23,677
Plant and equipment (2 to 15 years)	194,934			68,441
Vehicles (7 years)	2,842			1,235
Computer software (5 years)	9,528			3,002
Furniture and fixtures (5 years)	1,116			464
Construction in progress (a)	1,011,541			436,547
Capital Lease (10 years)	15,658			—
Mineral properties (Note 8)	24,327			24,692
Exploration rights (Note 8)	16,166			—
Property, plant and equipment at cost	1,589,235			584,865
Less accumulated depreciation	(44,931		)	(23,237		)
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	1,544,304		$	561,628

(a) Represents costs incurred at the Molycorp Mountain Pass facility and all other capital projects. See Note 3.