After spending much of the past year at a four-star rank, General Moly (NYSE: GMO) has impressed enough top-performing members of our 160,000-strong Motley Fool CAPS community to climb its way back to five stars. A total of 420 members have given their opinion on the molybdenum miner, with many of them offering analysis and commentary explaining the recent optimism.

Many CAPS members are bullish on the outlook for molybdenum demand. The deal that General Moly recently cut with Chinese firm Hanlong Mining to secure funding for its Mt. Hope project has many investors more confident that General Moly can ramp up production of the high-strength steel component.

The Mt. Hope project in Nevada has a massive amount of molybdenum reserves and is expected to produce around 40 million pounds for the first five years, putting General Moly's production between that of top producer Freeport McMoRan's (NYSE: FCX) 53 million pounds and Rio Tinto's (NYSE: RTP) roughly 25 million pounds of production in 2009.

General Moly expects strong cash flows from Mt. Hope deals already in place with companies such as ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT).

China's soaring demand for metals has been a big positive for iron ore miners like Vale (NYSE: VALE), BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), and Rio Tinto, and the country has become a major molybdenum consumer as well. In addition to the demand growth expected in China, analysts expect India and Europe to grow their appetite for steel alloys including molybdenum.

Molybdenum's price has seen increasing strength in recent quarters and is forecast to continue rising over the next couple of years, according to JPMorgan analysts. Molybdenum producers Thompson Creek Metals (NYSE: TC) also anticipate continuing strength in the market for the metal component.

With its Mt. Hope project expected to add a large amount of value to General Moly and the company aiming to be a top pure-play moly producer, CAPS members like the possibilities for above-average growth in the stock.

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