AP reported that US Energy Corporation, which explores for metals and owns stakes in oil and gas properties, said that Thompson Creek Metals Co has decided not to buy a stake in the company's Mount Emmons molybdenum deposit in Colorado.

Thompson Creek said it has more immediate development priorities to focus on. US Energy said that it is disappointed with Thompson Creek's decision, but is committed to moving the project forward and will reach out to other potential partners.

Mr Keith Larsen CEO of US Energy said that "Looking forward, we will be reaching out to the Chinese, who have expressed an interest in the project in the past. They tend to have a longer term view regarding resource inventory."

The plan to search for molybdenum at an old mining site in Gunnison County, near the ski resort town of Crested Butte, was opposed for years by a local conservation group. The site had been mined for silver, lead and zinc, and a series of owners have been looking for molybdenum there since the 1970s. US Energy said in January that it was years away from doing any mining.

(Sourced from Associated Press)