Molybdenum is obtained commercially by milling mined ore and then roasting the liberated molybdenite in forced air and reduction the oxide formed with carbon in an electric furnace. Another method is by a thermite reduction of tech-oxide in the presence of iron in which you get ferromolybdenum. Molybdenum roasters are equipped to recover a by-product of this process, rhenium.
Some of its uses is to support filament in incandescent lamps as it has a high melting point. In heaters it is used for heating elements. It is also used in many alloy of steel. The addition of molybdenum adds strength, corrosion resistance, high melting temperature, hardenability, and weldability. In fact, after the demand in World War I for tungsten in alloy strained the supply of tungsten, molybdenum was used as a substitute for tungsten in alloy. Molybdenum has also been used for colorful pigment, and lubricity in extreme temperature and pressure conditions.
A unique property of molybendum and a fact that distinguishes it from other metals is that laboratory tests show that its compounds are low in toxicity.
Molybendum is unreactive, but it forms various covalent compounds, which are used as industrial catalyst.
It's also a trace element in plants and a catalyst in bacterial nitrogen fixation.
Check out the International Molybdenum Association website at http://www.imoa.org.uk/