| Ticker | Status | Jurisdiction | Filing Date | CP Start | CP End | CP Loss | Deadline |
|---|
| Ticker | Case Name | Status | CP Start | CP End | Deadline | Settlement Amt |
|---|
| Ticker | Name | Date | Analyst Firm | Up/Down | Target ($) | Rating Change | Rating Current |
|---|
New Process May Allow NioCorp to Produce Higher-Purity Versions of its Niobium and Titanium Products, Which May Open New Markets to the Company
CENTENNIAL, Colo., April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NioCorp Developments Ltd. ("NioCorp" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:NB, TSX:NB) and L3 Process Developments ("L3") are pleased to announce a process breakthrough in niobium and titanium recovery achieved at L3's demonstration-scale processing plant Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. The breakthrough points to a potentially more efficient way to process niobium and titanium into higher-purity products, which may in turn open up new markets for NioCorp's proposed Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project (the "Project") planned products, once sufficient financing is obtained to allow the Project to proceed to commercial operation.
The breakthrough occurred as part of the Company's final stages of work at L3's plant, which has been testing NioCorp's new and improved processing flow sheet for the Project. The new flowsheet targets more efficient processing of niobium, titanium, and scandium, which could improve rates of recovery and potentially reduce operating costs ("OPEX") and/or capital costs ("CAPEX") associated with these operations. Final determination of any changes in OPEX or CAPEX for the Project will be determined through an update to the Project's Feasibility Study, which is expected to be completed later this year.
The demonstration-scale plant also has been testing the technical feasibility of recovering several magnetic rare-earth elements from the Project's Nebraska ore and separating and purifying those elements, which include neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. NioCorp's Elk Creek Project represents the second largest indicated rare earth resource in the U.S., based on data from the USGS' "Critical Mineral Resources of the United States—Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply (2017)" and from company-issued reports.
NioCorp has already determined that overall recoveries for these four magnetic rare earths are likely to be greater than 92% and would meet commercial purity specifications for magnetic rare earth oxides. They are in line with the Company's previous published success at demonstration scale in producing high-purity Scandium oxide at an overall recovery rate of approximately 92%. Scandium behaves very similarly to rare earths in solution while it is being separated and recovered into a high-purity oxide product.
Currently, the U.S. is 100% dependent on foreign imports of niobium, scandium, and separated rare earth oxides, even though many modern technologies and virtually all major defense systems require one or more of these critical minerals. The U.S. is dependent on foreign imports for about 92% of its titanium mineral concentrates, according to the U.S. Geological Survey ("USGS").
"By improving both recoveries and purities of our planned niobium and titanium products, we hope to be able to address new markets and help the U.S. establish more secure domestic supply lines for these critical minerals," said Mark A. Smith, CEO and Executive Chairman of NioCorp. "For example, higher-purity niobium may allow us to more directly serve markets associated with rapid-charging niobium-lithium-ion batteries for battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. That, in turn, could increase the domestic content of critical minerals in batteries, which would help U.S. automakers meet increasingly stringent domestic content requirements as well as help consumers of these vehicles potentially benefit from federal tax breaks associated with the purchase of electric vehicles."
Mr. Smith added: "Higher-purity titanium also presents us with new potential market opportunities and improve U.S. security with regard to titanium supply. Titanium supply chains are under increasing stress today as a result of the war in Ukraine. That is because many primary titanium units used in both commercial and defense technologies in the U.S. have in recent years been sourced from Ukraine, and a substantial amount of titanium metal was coming from Russia. Prices for titanium concentrates and feedstocks have increased on the order of 250% as a result. More titanium produced in Nebraska can help mitigate these supply chain pressures."
As no economic analysis has been completed on the rare earth mineral resource comprising the Elk Creek Project, further studies are required before determining whether extraction of rare earth elements can be reasonably justified and economically viable after taking account all relevant factors.
Process Breakthrough Points To Potentially Lower Production Costs
Until now, the Project's flowsheet and economics have been based on two sequential hydrolysis steps to produce a niobium product suitable for conversion into ferroniobium and a titanium product suitable as a feedstock for the pigment market. According to the Company's current Project Feasibility Study, the existing flowsheet projects overall recoveries to final product of 82.4% for niobium and 40.3% for titanium.
Recent testing has focused on utilizing a single hydrolysis step followed by chlorination and condensation of niobium chloride and titanium chloride. These chloride compounds can be easily converted to oxide compounds, which is the general form that prospective customers are looking for.
Qualitative testing to this point has demonstrated the production of a high-purity niobium chloride containing no more than 0.7% Titanium, along with a titanium chloride containing correspondingly low Niobium levels. The work has demonstrated an exceptionally good separation between Niobium and Titanium, and substantially lower base metal impurities in these products than was achieved using the currently planned process.
"Our next steps include establishing a closed material balance for this part of the flowsheet and determining overall recoveries for niobium and titanium," said Scott Honan, NioCorp's Chief Operating Officer. "We expect to make announcements on the results of this work in the coming weeks, and I very much look forward to seeing the final numbers."
Mr. Honan added that the demonstration plant expects to complete its final testing operations in April or May.
