CENTENNIAL, Colo.  – NioCorp, the developer of the Elk Creek alloys project in southeast Nebraska, announced U.S. Department of Defense support to establish the nation’s first domestic scandium mine-to-master-alloy supply chain.

A NioCorp press release says successful development of the Elk Creek Project will set up its subsidiary Elk Creek Resources Corp  to become one of the first U.S. producers of scandium in support of critical defense department systems, such as advanced propulsion, hypersonic weapons and future aircraft.

The company says a $10 million Department of Defense award was supported by Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts and is in alignment with President Donald Trump’s executive order to increase domestic mineral production.

NioCorp also announced it has finalized the purchase of land parcels tied to the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project. The company completed its first land purchase in 2021 and has closed on three additional parcels.

CEO mark Smith said NioCorp is increasingly owners instead of lessees of the land the associated with the Elk Creek project.

 

Here is the company's press release

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (August 5, 2025) – NioCorp Developments Ltd. (“NioCorp” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:NB) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Elk Creek Resources Corp. (“ECRC”) has been awarded up to $10 million, subject to the achievement of certain milestones, from the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) via Title III of the Defense Production Act (“DPA”) to support the establishment of a domestic scandium mine-to-manufacture supply chain via the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project (the “Elk Creek Project”) in southeast Nebraska.

The award to ECRC follows a federal appropriations plus-up in the Fiscal Year 2024 DoD appropriations bill that was championed by U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), other Members of the Nebraska Congressional delegation, and both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.  The investment by DoD aligns with President Trump’s March 20, 2025, Executive Order 14241 on Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production’s goal to facilitate domestic mineral production.
Located near Elk Creek, Nebraska, ECRC is developing the United States’ first polymetallic deposit targeting production of scandium, niobium, titanium, and other critical minerals upon which the U.S. is completely or largely reliant on foreign producers.

“We want to thank President Trump, Vice President Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Senators Fischer and Ricketts, and many other government leaders for the opportunity to secure this important funding for the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project,” said Mark A. Smith, NioCorp CEO and Executive Chairman. “We believe this award and the development of the Elk Creek Project will position the U.S. as a global leader in the mining, processing, and manufacturing of scandium and scandium alloy components for defense and essential civilian technologies.  In doing so, we will greatly reduce our dangerous dependence on China and other adversarial nations for scandium and other defense-critical minerals.”

“By facilitating the Elk Creek Project’s advancement to construction and eventual commercial operation, this DoD award will also help America ramp up domestic production of scandium, niobium, titanium, and other critical minerals that are vital to many defense and commercial technologies and which today are almost entirely produced in China,” Mr. Smith added.

This DPA Title III award is expected to enable the completion of feasibility study-level engineering, additional reserve drilling, and updated cost estimates for the Elk Creek Project.  In turn, these updates are expected to facilitate NioCorp’s pursuit of project finance, including up to $800 million in debt financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (“EXIM”).  This award and EXIM’s potential financing would demonstrate an integrated “whole of government” approach to promoting domestic critical mineral production for defense and essential civilian technologies.

As part of this effort, ECRC expects to advance the integration of aluminum-scandium alloys into aerospace platforms in conjunction with a defense prime contractor. Successful development of the Elk Creek Project is expected to enable ECRC to become one of the first U.S. producers of scandium, which will enhance critical DoD systems such as advanced propulsion, next-gen energy systems, and multiple structural components and components for aircraft programs of record, hypersonic weapons systems, and future aircraft.  Scarcity is an obstacle that has restricted wider industry adoption of scandium to modernize and improve the performance of major aerospace and hypersonic platforms.

Scandium alloys are increasingly replacing titanium alloy and legacy aluminum alloy components in DoD systems due to superior lightweight, high-strength characteristics. Geological scarcity, limited production infrastructure, and market failures drive scandium industrial shortages. China, Russia and Ukraine account for most output while the U.S. has virtually no domestic production and limited alloy development efforts. Establishing a vertically integrated domestic supply chain for scandium alloy production enables multiple avenues for innovation in defense aerospace.

The last recorded scandium mining in the United States occurred in 1969.  Substantially all current scandium production, in any form, now occurs in China. DPA Title III investments like this one are key for reducing the U.S. defense industrial base’s dependence on foreign sources for critical minerals.