Underground mineral source coupled with environmentally responsible processing presents sustainable solution for domestic rare earth production.

NioCorp Developments Ltd. plans to recycle post-consumer rare earth permanent magnets and produce commercial-grade magnetic rare earth oxides at its proposed Elk Creek critical minerals project in Nebraska.

All of the minerals to be produced at Elk Creek are officially designated as critical to the United States and are essential to technologies driving the global transition to clean energy and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. is currently 100% dependent on imports for five of them – niobium, scandium, neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium – all of which are vital to aerospace, automotive, aviation, batteries, defense, infrastructure, and energy. The U.S. is also over 80% dependent on imports of titanium mineral concentrates, which would be produced at the Nebraska mine.

"If we want to reduce America's dangerous over-reliance on foreign nations for the critical minerals that enable our clean energy future and bolster our national defense, we need to promote both the mining and downstream processing of critical minerals here in America," NioCorp's Executive Chairman and CEO Mark Smith said. "That is how we re-establish fully integrated domestic supply chains and create a new generation of high-skill jobs. Without mining here at home to feed American value-added processing, these domestic supply chains can evaporate very quickly by the whims of foreign governments that want to undercut America's global leadership and weaken our national defenses."

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II aircraft utilizes all of the critical minerals NioCorp plans to produce, while the U.S. is currently 80-100% dependent on foreign imports for those same materials.

Improving on the feasibility study

NioCorp has secured key permits necessary to initiate construction of the mine at Elk Creek, with integration of the magnet recycling plant to follow. The Elk Creek mineral resource contains the largest indicated terbium resource in the U.S., as well as the second largest indicated neodymium-praseodymium and dysprosium resources in the U.S. – all four of these rare earths are used in the powerful permanent magnets in EV drive motors.

Following the original 2022 feasibility study, NioCorp's project advancements are being designed to reduce capital expenditure, repurpose waste, upgrade to higher value products, electrify the mine with a Railveyor system, reduce its carbon footprint, and more.

The Elk Creek project is slated to receive approximately $200 million in tax benefits from the state of Nebraska over its first 10 years of operation, while a new federal law provides a 10% production tax credit applicable to all of NioCorp's planned products.

NioCorp is also working with the U.S. Export-Import Bank on a possible loan of up to $800 million to fund this critical minerals mine and processing plant in Nebraska.

A Made-in-America designation for these products also helps prospective automotive clients qualify for the U.S. electric vehicle tax credit.

NioCorp already has preliminary offtake agreements for much of the critical metals to be produced at a future Elk Creek Mine, including top automaker Stellantis, which has an agreement to buy high-purity rare earth oxides from a future mine and processing plant at Elk Creek.

The company also has an agreement with Traxys North America LLC for scandium; and CMC Cometals and ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products for up to 75% of Elk Creek's ferroniobium production.

A set 3.75% discount has also been given to Argus Metals' index pricing for ferroniobium.

NioCorp

A lack of secure domestic supply is needed to resolve limited or politically sensitive and unreliable supply locations and develop environmentally sustainable sources.

Recycling Post-Consumer Magnets

The hydrometallurgical leaching process to be developed for processing ore from the Elk Creek Mine could also be used to recycle rare earths from post-consumer neodymium-iron-boron magnets, which can be used to make new permanent magnets.

This hydrometallurgical processing circuit could also allow NioCorp to accept mixed rare earth concentrate from other mines beyond using the Elk Creek ore body and break the Chinese grip on rare earths production.

The company expects to examine the feasibility of neodymium-iron-boron magnet recycling once sufficient funding for the research is secured. The investigation is expected to be conducted separately from the company's ongoing work to update its Elk Creek Project feasibility study, with ambitions toward demonstration-scale testing when possible.

Once launched, the research and development program will focus on determining efficient processes to de-magnetize and break down used magnets into an increased feedstock that can then be converted by chemical process back into separated rare earth products.

The NioCorp CEO will discuss the company's plans to potentially produce commercial grade magnetic rare earth oxides at Elk Creek during an Oct. 15 presentation at the 20th Annual Rare Earth Conference in Washington, D.C. Smith and NioCorp COO Scott Honan are also presenting the day prior at the 3rd Annual Scandium Symposium, also in Washington, D.C.