In a new video, NioCorp leaders discuss the latest developments with the Company’s metallurgical demonstration plant now operating in Quebec and provide never-before-seen footage of the demonstration plant in operation. You can see the video here.

 

 

Highlights From The Video:

 

• Mark Smith, NioCorp CEO and Executive Chairman:  “We’re working really hard on one area in particular, which is the rare earth extraction and recovery. We hope to have some information out on that in the very near future. But this is exciting for the United States. We haven’t produced rare earth oxides in the United States for years. And I don’t know if we’ll be the first, that’s not really the important point.  The point of the matter is that we are going to be making magnetic rare earth oxides in the United States. And that that is something that this country needs, the EV world is going to need, the major automobile manufacturers of the world are going to need. And that’s why we’re having so many meetings with potential offtake partners.  This is critical to the United States.”

 

• Scott Honan, NioCorp Chief Operating Officer: “I think certainly all of us at NioCorp would hope that the progress on the plant would have gone a little bit faster. But we have to keep in mind what the objective is here. We want a high-quality product from our demonstration plant work. And, at the same time, there are some things, some aspirational goals that I’ve given the team, that we really want to make sure we do a good job, because there are some pretty good economic benefits that come with them. As an example, when we look at our optimized flow sheet, there’s the potential for success to increase the recovery of niobium, and to increase the recovery of titanium over and above what we have in our existing flow sheet. We need to establish what we can do in terms of rare earth recovery and the purity of the products that we want to make. And certainly, there’s enough economics there to really make us take a hard look at this and make sure we’re doing a very good job at it before we say we’re it’s all over and done with.”

 

• Rick Sixberry, NioCorp’s Director of Process Development and a veteran of more than 40 years in the rare earth separation and purification industry:  “Even back in the Mountain Pass (rare earth mine and processing facility) days, we tried so hard to get people to understand why rare earth was so important to have mined and processed in this country.  And they’d get it for a little while and it would die off and it would come back and they’d get it again. I think with EVs and the direction that the world is trying to head right now, I think maybe they get it now.  And niobium is the same thing — for strengthening steel, for our infrastructure that we’re looking at doing a big revamp on, infrastructure in those countries is many years old. There’s a lot of bridges out there that are right now they’re looking at them because they need to be replaced. That’s niobium steel, right? Titanium, same thing. It’s been going up and down. You get supplies from Russia, it affects everything, China affects everything. These materials need to be mined in this country and processed in this country. We need to quit relying on other countries for it. We’re finding out that’s not such a good idea.”

 

For More Information:

Jim Sims, Corporate Communications Officer, NioCorp Developments Ltd., 720-639-4650, [email protected]

@NioCorp @GXII $NB.TO $NIOBF $BR3 #Niobium #Scandium #rareearth #neodymium #dysprosium #terbium #ElkCreek #EV #electricvehicle

About NioCorp

NioCorp is developing a critical minerals project in Southeast Nebraska that will produce niobium, scandium, and titanium.  The Company also is evaluating the potential to produce several rare earths from the Project.  Niobium is used to produce specialty alloys as well as High Strength, Low Alloy (“HSLA“) steel, which is a lighter, stronger steel used in automotive, structural, and pipeline applications. Scandium is a specialty metal that can be combined with Aluminum to make alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance. Scandium is also a critical component of advanced solid oxide fuel cells. Titanium is used in various lightweight alloys and is a key component of pigments used in paper, paint and plastics and is also used for aerospace applications, armor, and medical implants.  Magnetic rare earths, such as neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, and dysprosium are critical to the making of Neodymium-Iron-Boron (“NdFeB”) magnets, which are used across a wide variety of defense and civilian applications.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication and the video referenced herein contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about NioCorp’s expectation that its demonstration plant will produce results that will increase efficiencies in NioCorp’s planned processing flow sheet, NioCorp’s expectation that NioCorp may be able to produce new commercial products for the Project, NioCorp’s ability to secure sufficient project financing to complete construction and commence operation of the Elk Creek Project; the outcome of current recovery process improvement testing, and NioCorp’s expectation that such process improvements could lead to greater efficiencies and cost savings in the Elk Creek Project; the Elk Creek Project’s ability to produce multiple critical metals; and the completion of the demonstration plant and technical and economic analyses on the potential addition of magnetic rare earth oxides to NioCorp’s planned product suiteForward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as “plan,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “outlook,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “continue,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “should,” “would” and other similar words and expressions, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.

The forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management of NioCorp and are inherently subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances and their potential effects and speak only as of the date of such statement. There can be no assurance that future developments will be those that have been anticipated. Forward-looking statements reflect material expectations and assumptions, including, without limitation, expectations, and assumptions relating to: the translatability of the thermal treatment and leaching process to remove calcium and magnesium carbonates from ore to the ore that NioCorp expects to extract from the Elk Creek Project. Such expectations and assumptions are inherently subject to uncertainties and contingencies regarding future events and, as such, are subject to change. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed and identified in public filings made by NioCorp with the SEC andwith the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the following: NioCorp’s ability to operate as a going concern; NioCorp’s requirement of significant additional capital; NioCorp’s limited operating history; NioCorp’s history of losses; cost increases for NioCorp’s exploration and, if warranted, development projects; a disruption in, or failure of, NioCorp’s information technology systems, including those related to cybersecurity; equipment and supply shortages; current and future offtake agreements, joint ventures, and partnerships; NioCorp’s ability to attract qualified management; the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or other global health crises on NioCorp’s business plans, financial condition and liquidity; estimates of mineral resources and reserves; mineral exploration and production activities; feasibility study results; changes in demand for and price of commodities (such as fuel and electricity) and currencies; changes or disruptions in the securities markets; legislative, political or economic developments; the need to obtain permits and comply with laws and regulations and other regulatory requirements; the possibility that actual results of work may differ from projections/expectations or may not realize the perceived potential of NioCorp’s projects; risks of accidents, equipment breakdowns, and labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in development programs; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration, mining, or development activities; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves and resources; claims on the title to NioCorp’s properties; potential future litigation; and NioCorp’s lack of insurance covering all of NioCorp’s operations.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should any of the assumptions made by the management of NioCorp prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements.

All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning the matters addressed herein and attributable to NioCorp or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to herein. Except to the extent required by applicable law or regulation, NioCorp undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.