It is really clear what it says:
“Domestic production of Scandium. Given the planned initiation and production in the United States within the next 5 years of as much as 100 metric tons of Scandium, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing on the potential defense and industrial uses of Scandium to the congressional defense committees by December 1, 2017.”
NioCorp is the only current prospective producer of scandium in the U.S. that has announced plans to produce this amount of scandium on an annual basis. As outlined in the Company’s recently released Elk Creek Superalloy Project Feasibility Study, the Company plans to produce approximately 103 tonnes of scandium product annually. NioCorp’s annual scandium production is estimated to exceed total global scandium production by a factor of at least five, and will potentially position the U.S. as the world’s leading producer of scandium.
On page 288 of the Committee Report accompanying the NDAA, the SASC also included this legislative language:
“Fiscal stability of the National Defense Stockpile. ... Additionally, the committee strongly encourages the Department to make use of existing authorities under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act (50 U.S.C. 2093) to enter into commitments to purchase strategic and critical materials required to meet the defense, industrial, and essential civilian needs of the United States from domestic producers anddomestic producers that the Department believes are likely to initiate commercial production of such materials within the next five years.”
This last part: "Fiscal stability of the National Defense STOCKPILE."
That's right, STOCKPILE.
"The committee strongly encourages the Department to make use of existing authorities under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act (50 U.S.C. 2093) to enter into COMMITMENTS TO PURCHASE STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MATERIALS REQUIRED TO MEET THE DEFENSE, INDUSTRIAL, AND ESSENTIAL CIVILIAN NEED OF THE UNITED STATES FROM DOMESTIC PRODUCERS AND DOMESTIC PRODUCERS THAT THE DEPARTMENT BELIEVES ARE LIKELY TO INITIATE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF SUCH MATERIALS WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS."
We are the only prospective Scandium producer in the U.S. planning to start production in the next five years. YES, this is talking about US.
