Few outside the metals and mining world could pick molybdenum from a periodic table. Even fewer could explain why the obscure element with the symbol Mo — derived from the Neo-Latin molybdaenum — has become one of the most strategically important inputs in the global industrial economy.
But with supply tightening, new-energy demand rising, and geopolitical pressures reshaping commodity markets, the silver-grey refractory metal is suddenly moving from obscurity into the spotlight.
The global rhenium and molybdenum market was valued at US$5.455 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach US$5.909 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 1.1% during the forecast period.
This steady growth reflects the critical roles these metals play in high-performance applications, from superalloys in aerospace engines to catalysts in petrochemical processes, fuelled by demand in machinery manufacturing, which accounts for about 68% of applications, alongside rising needs in automotive, defence, and emerging sustainable technologies.
Molybdenum is mined at just 76 projects worldwide (see map below), and more than half of those – 40 operations – sit within China’s borders. Production reflects that imbalance: China delivers 53% of global output, with Peru (16%), Chile (15%), and the US (12%) rounding out the major sources, as previously reported by Mining.com.au.
Although the US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates the planet hosts about 25.4 million tonnes of identified molybdenum resources, only seven of today’s operating mines are primary molybdenum producers. The rest rely on the metal occurring as a byproduct of copper mining — a structure that exposes supply to the fortunes of a completely different commodity.
Of those seven primary operations, just two are located outside China, both tucked away in Colorado. In contrast, nearly 700 copper mines operate globally, but only 60 produce molybdenum alongside copper.
It’s a supply chain built on fragility — and the cracks are showing.
Western output falters as demand climbs
Some 90% of Western molybdenum supply arrives as a copper byproduct, typically at grades between 0.01% and 0.25% Mo, according to CPM Group. That reliance becomes problematic when ore grades fall or copper output declines — both of which hit North America in 2023, the USGS notes.
At the same time, the World Bank forecasts that demand from the renewables sector alone could consume 12% of today’s total global production by 2030. That is not a trivial increase – and it cannot be met without more primary moly mines coming online.
The tension is clearest in China, where tightening environmental regulation has slowed permitting and restricted output. High prices have pushed many Chinese buyers to pull back from the market entirely, delaying procurement where possible to avoid cost spikes.
Chile, which is home to Chile’s national copper company Codelco, one of the world’s largest copper producers and the third-largest supplier of moly – is issuing warnings of its own. The state miner cautions that further government restrictions on investment funding may drive output even lower.
Analysts agree it’s no wonder molybdenum now appears on the critical minerals lists of Australia, Canada, Japan, and China. Governments and miners alike can see what’s coming.
Indispensable metal, ancient roots
Despite its low profile today, molybdenum has a surprisingly long history. The International Molybdenum Association (IMOA) notes that ancient civilisations grouped various “lead-like” substances under the Greek term molybdos – including galena, graphite, and what we now call molybdenite (MoS₂).
The ancients may not have understood the chemistry, but they certainly used the material – one Japanese sword from the 14th century reportedly contains molybdenum as an alloying element.
The science arrived later. In 1768, Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele identified molybdenite as a sulfide containing an unknown element. Fourteen years later, Peter Jacob Hjelm isolated the metal itself, giving molybdenum its name and place on the periodic table.
Why industries can’t get enough moly
The key to molybdenum’s importance is simple: it makes alloys stronger, lighter, more heat-resistant, and more durable.
Its contributions span nearly every industrial sector including construction and infrastructure; chemical and petrochemical processing; oil and gas equipment; mechanical engineering and high-temperature applications; power generation; transportation and automotive; and medical and consumer products.
Its use improves longevity, reduces maintenance, and increases efficiency. And when the global economy leans heavily into clean energy and grid expansion – sectors that require high-strength steels and heat-resistant alloys – molybdenum demand rises accordingly.
Substitutes exist on paper – boron, chromium, niobium, vanadium, tungsten, graphite, tantalum – but the USGS is clear by stating ‘there is little true replacement for molybdenum in steels and cast irons’.
Stepping out of the shadows
With futures contracts traded on the London Metal Exchange — in lots of 6 tonnes deliverable to Antwerp, Singapore, Rotterdam, and Baltimore – molybdenum is already a global commodity. But it is only now being recognised as one of the quiet enablers of the energy transition.
Western supply is falling, Chinese output is constrained, and demand from renewables and infrastructure keeps climbing.
For a metal most people have never heard of, molybdenum is shaping up to be one of the most important – and potentially most contested –industrial inputs of the decade ahead.
In June 2025, Starcore International Mines (TSX:SAM) was considering either a joint venture or sale of its El Creston Molybdenum Project in Mexico.
At the time, CEO Robert Eadie told Mining.com.au there could be a possible movement of assets over the next 12 months. The company’s El Creston asset is a drilled-off molybdenum project that Starcore has been considering a joint venture or possible sale.
Starcore added the El Creston project, along with two other molybdenum projects in Canada, to its portfolio in February 2015 via the acquisition of Creston Moly Corp.
The project is located in the Basin and Range Province, which extends from northern Mexico to southwestern US and hosts several porphyry copper and molybdenum mines and deposits.
Mapping and imaging of the El Creston project has outlined a 5.5km by up to 1.5km wide east-west trend of hydrothermal alteration in which several zones of molybdenum, copper and silver mineralisation occur.
Most of the work completed at El Creston has been concentrated on the evaluation of the El Creston Main and Red Hill Zones, which combined make up the Creston Deposit.
At the start of 2025, Toronto-based Greenland Resources (CBOE:MOLY) inked an agreement to supply European steel giant Outokumpu (HEL:OUT1V) with molybdenum from its flagship Malmbjerg Project for 10 years.
Greenland Resources will supply 8 million pounds of molybdenum each year, which equates to about 25% of the first 10 years of production from the Malmbjerg Project.
As part of the agreement, Outokumpu will help Greenland to secure capex financing.
Outokumpu Chief Financial Officer Marc-Simon Schaar says Europe is heavily reliant on imports for many critical raw materials and the dependence creates vulnerabilities due to geopolitical factors and supply chain disruptions.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: International Molybdenum Association & Refractorymetal.org
