Molycorp, Inc. announced several changes to its board of directors, all effective Dec. 19, 2013, including the election of vice chair Constantine Karayannopoulos to Board Chair and the addition to the board of Molycorp President and CEO Geoff Bedford.

Karayannopoulos was elected by the board to serve as its new chair, replacing Ross Bhappu, senior partner of Resource Capital Funds, who has decided to resign from the board.

"As an initial member of the Molycorp Board, Ross Bhappu has been a driving force behind our growth from a Company with a single facility into a global, vertically integrated enterprise," said Karayannopoulos. "We are all very grateful for Ross' leadership and commitment to the success of this company."

"With the rebuild and modernization of Mountain Pass and our global vertically integrated platform now largely complete, an increased focus by the company on operational optimization and global market sales growth is strategically the right move at this time," said Bhappu, who served as Molycorp Board Chair since the company's initial public offering in 2010. "Constantine's nearly two decades of experience in the global rare earth industry will serve the board and the company well going forward."