National urgency and investor backing propel Nebraska mine forward.

Following a successful three-month equity raise that secured approximately $60.7 million in institutional funding, NioCorp Developments Ltd. is preparing to launch a series of pre-construction activities at its Elk Creek critical minerals project in Nebraska.

Found roughly 80 miles south of Omaha in southeastern Nebraska, Elk Creek is a critical minerals project by every definition of the term – home to one of the only U.S. deposits capable of producing niobium, scandium, and titanium at commercial scale, with an added potential bonus of rare earths, positioning it as a uniquely consolidated source of materials essential to America's industrial and technological base.

Colorado-based NioCorp Developments has spent more than a decade in advanced planning and technical refinement, backed by an S-K 1300-compliant initial assessment that outlines an indicated mineral resource of more than 970,000 metric tons of niobium oxide, 11,337 metric tons of scandium oxide, and over 4.2 million metric tons of titanium oxides, with an additional 632,900 metric tons of total rare earth oxides currently under evaluation for potential byproduct recovery.

Based on these figures, Elk Creek is projected to produce 7,450 metric tons of ferroniobium, 12,063 metric tons of titanium dioxide, and 104 metric tons of scandium trioxide annually over a 38-year mine life – enough niobium to manufacture roughly 2 million metric tons of high-strength steel each year, enough titanium for widespread use in aerospace and pigment industries, and enough scandium to supply alloying applications across advanced transportation and defense.

Altogether, this mine could generate more than $2.8 billion.

Buoyed by growing federal urgency to strengthen U.S. supply chains and bolstered by recent investor confidence, NioCorp is now mobilizing to transition Elk Creek from planning into execution.

Backed by roughly $60.7 million in equity financing raised over the past three months – primarily from institutional funds – the company is accelerating a suite of early-stage activities aimed at de-risking construction and shortening the runway to full-scale development.

"NioCorp is now empowered to accelerate field activities and other pre-construction work streams so that the Elk Creek project can get out of the blocks that much faster once full project financing is obtained," said NioCorp CEO Mark Smith. "Early capital helps us get a jump in many different areas that in turn should help us accelerate bringing our products to market that much sooner. There is both an economic and a national defense imperative to getting strategic U.S. resources like the Elk Creek Project online as rapidly as possible."

As part of its early site advancement, NioCorp plans to initiate a broad range of activities, including land acquisition, geomechanical and hydrogeological fieldwork, detailed engineering, infrastructure development, utility hookups, and operational permitting-each designed to streamline the transition to construction once full project financing is in place.

The company also intends to expand its owner's team to support these pre-development efforts and maintain ongoing engagement with the U.S. Export-Import Bank and other prospective lenders as it works to finalize a full funding package.

"Our success in raising equity capital also provides important support and momentum to our ongoing engagement with the U.S. Export-Import Bank and other debt finance providers as we continue to assemble our project financing," said Smith. "With the intensive new focus and additional government funding by the Trump Administration to accelerate critical minerals mining, processing and supply chain development in the U.S., we feel a responsibility to accelerate our efforts to deliver multiple critical mineral products to market."