Niocorp Developments Ltd (NB)

[Ak74]

News out!!

Bloomberg News Highlights NioCorp's Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in Nebraska


Bloomberg News / BNA ran a news story this week on the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project, being developed in Nebraska by NioCorp Developments Ltd. (TSX: NB; OTCQX: NIOBF; and FSE: BR3).

The full text of the story, entitled "First-Ever U.S. Mining of Rare Metals Could Come From Nebraska," can be seen here: https://www.bna.com/firstever-us-mining-n73014481586/ ;

Stephen Lee, the Bloomberg Environment reporter who published the story, spoke with a wide variety of independent sources regarding their views on the Project and its many unique aspects. Among the comments he received and included in his story were these:

In a June investment note, Heiko Ihle, a senior equity research analyst at H.C. Wainwright & Co., wrote that the minerals’ inclusion on the Interior Department list “is a major differentiating factor that could help the firm in obtaining a financing package that would ultimately allow project development to begin.”

“I was fairly convinced [about the Project] before, but when the latest results came out saying that there would be no need for the water line to dispose of groundwater, I was sold,” Doug Goracke, director of economic development for the nearby city of Tecumseh, Neb., told Bloomberg Environment.

Aaron Mintzes, senior policy counsel for environmental advocacy group EarthWorks, said the mine plan tweak to avoid the Missouri River is "exactly what NEPA’s supposed to do. Even if the goal is to avoid NEPA review, its purpose is to ensure stakeholders take a hard look and consider environmentally beneficial alternatives." Mintzes also said one key reason NioCorp’s federal permitting has gone so smoothly is because Elk Creek sits on private land. "They still need zoning and mostly state water and air permits, but the Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service don’t interact with them much," Mintzes told Bloomberg Environment.

Lavon Heidemann, former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska in 2013 and 2014, told Bloomberg Environment that he’s confident the mine will be a clean operation. The mine is underground, not open pit, and "everything is within one square mile," Heidemann said. "I put my name behind this," he said. "Some people don’t like change, and there will be change. But overall, it’s going to be such a positive change. Once people see the footprint, I don’t think there’s going to be much difference, except maybe 300 or 400 people who will make good money." Heidemann owns 200 acres of farm and pasture land close to the proposed Elk Creek mine, and he conceded that "the minerals might float that way. But I would support this if I was 10 miles away," Heidemann said.

Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), whose district includes the Elk Creek mine, told Bloomberg Environment that he has "always supported the expansion of jobs in Nebraska, and I’m eager to reduce our reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals at every opportunity, particularly given China’s track record of unfairly trading in rare earth minerals." Smith said he and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) had urged the Trump administration to include scandium on its critical minerals list.


The full text of the Bloomberg news story can be seen here:https://www.bna.com/firstever-us-mining-n73014481586/ ;

For more information on the Elk Creek Project, and on NioCorp, see https://www.niocorp.com

# # #