Molycorp Inc.'s business plan to become a one-stop rare earths shop facility is almost on its heels after shareholders of its acquisition target, Neo Material Technologies Inc., unanimously approved its takeover bid of the Canadian rare earths processor.

Shareholders of Neo Material Technologies Inc. were asked to vote for an arrangement resolution involving the Molycorp Inc.'s purchase of all of company's issued and outstanding shares. The shareholders voted and approved 99.9 per cent the buyout plan during the annual and special meeting of Neo Material Technologies Inc.'s shareholders on Wednesday in Toronto.

"The new company will be uniquely positioned to serve global customers while generating value for all its stakeholders, through the integration of the world's best rare earth resource with the world's best rare earth, rare metal and magnetic materials production technologies," Constantine Karayannopoulos, president and chief executive officer of Neo Material Technologies Inc., said in a statement.

Shareholders of Neo Material Technologies Inc., under the terms of the acquisition agreement, have the option to either receive cash, shares of Molycorp Inc. common stock, and/or shares of a Canadian Molycorp Inc. subsidiary that are exchangeable into shares of Molycorp Inc. common stock.

Neo Material Technologies Inc. in a statement said it will now apply to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for a final order approving the takeover arrangement. The hearing of the Final Order will be on June 8 at Toronto.

"We are very pleased that Neo Material Technologies Inc.'s shareholders, by an overwhelming majority, have voted to approve the combining of these two uniquely positioned companies," Mark A. Smith, Molycorp's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"We have been planning for this combination, and we expect the integration of these two companies to proceed very smoothly after the closing. Once completed, this transaction will create one of the most technologically advanced, vertically integrated rare earth and advanced materials companies in the world today."

In March, Molycorp Inc. announced it will buy Canadian rare earth processor Neo Material Technologies Inc. for a whopping $1.3 billion in cash and stock to support its mine-to-magnet strategy, a scheme meant to capture the entire rare earths supply and manufacturing chain.

Molycorp Inc., which owns the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California, is one of Western rare earths miners out to topple the dominance of China in the rare earths sector.

In April, a new estimate by an independent mining-industry consulting firm has elevated the proven and probable rare earths reserves at the Mountain Pass rare earths mine to as much as 36 per cent.

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