Mountain pass mine and MP materials

MP Materials owns the Mountain Pass mine on the border of California and Nevada.  Mountian Pass mine is the only Rare Earth mineral mine in North America.  The Mountain Pass deposit was discovered in 1949 by a uranium prospector who noticed anomalously high radioactivity. The Molybdenum Corporation of America bought the mining claims, and began small-scale production in 1952.

Production expanded greatly in the 1960s, to supply demand for europium used in color television screens. Between 1965 and 1995, the mine supplied most of the worldwide rare-earth metals consumption.  After many changes of hands and 85% of all rare earth minerals located in China, MP Materials has made a huge investment into the mine.  One of the most important improvements is lighting.  All of the existing fixtures are Holophane 100 and 175W MH fixtures.  With thousands of fixtures needing an upgrade, the ARCUS RETRUS is a perfect solution.

MP Materials have a substantial investment in lighting and want a solution that is least invasive, labor intensive upgrade as possible.  The existing infrastructure that has been in place since the 60’s like poles, conduit, wiring and tops hat mounts already in place, there is no need to replace every piece to install a new fixture.   MP Mine found Arcus through their partner and local distributor.  RETRUS™ connects with Crouse Hinds, Appleton, Holophane, Killark, and GE Top Hat mountings utilizing all the existing infrastructure and only purchasing the lower portion of the light.  In addition to replacing a fixture in 10 mins; ARCUS fixtures are designed and manufactured using the top components and provide some of the longest maintenance-free performing fixtures of any other industrial LED lighting manufacturer.  Our compact, lightweight fixtures make it easy for one person to replace a fixture. The design of the RETRUS ™ coupled with the compact light weight body provided the perfect solution for replacement of any existing installation while only replacing the bottom portion of the fixture and helping save material and labor for upgrades in hazardous, wet, and dusty environments.