Niocorp Developments Ltd (NB)

[tedro84]

Yes. There are numerous places in the FS where SRK recommends a scandium offtake.

Two major group of risks rated high were identified during the session and were tagged having a
Mitigation Plan.
• Risks associated with market development of the scandium;
• Risks associated with a new hydrometallurgical process.

For those risks, the mitigation measures are planned to be put in place during the next phase of the
Project. NioCorp should continue and expand its efforts to engage potential offtake customers for all
of its three products, in particular Sc2O3.

SRK makes the following recommendations about the Project:
• NioCorp should continue and expand its efforts to engage potential offtake customers for all
of its three products, in particular Sc2O3;

I think when the phrase "not required" has been used by management it is in the context of a legal requirement. It is extremely hard to imagine an institution committing to this kind of money without a scandium offtake, but I can think of a couple possibilities.

Both require government support. A large enough one time pre-purchase may do the trick, but I don't think the 100 tonnes mentioned in the critical minerals list is enough. The other would be a US government guarantee on the loan, just like the German program but for a much larger percentage of the project.