Niocorp Developments Ltd (NB)

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Press release and video link regarding scandium offtake agreement with Traxys.

Press release:

NioCorp and Traxys North America Agree to Commercial Sales Contract for up to 120 Tonnes of Scandium Over 10 Years

Agreement Launches a Strategic Partnership Between NioCorp and Traxys, a Global Leader in Specialty Metals Markets, to Unlock Latent Demand for Scandium in Multiple Markets
NioCorp and Traxys North America Agree to Commercial Sales Contract for up to 120 Tonnes of Scandium Over 10 Years

Agreement Launches a Strategic Partnership Between NioCorp and Traxys, a Global Leader in Specialty Metals Markets, to Unlock Latent Demand for Scandium in Multiple Markets

Video link:

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (October 10, 2018) -- NioCorp Developments Ltd. (“NioCorp” or the “Company”) (TSX: NB; OTCQX: NIOBF; and FSE: BR3) is pleased to announce that it has signed a commercial sales agreement with Traxys North America LLC (“Traxys”) for up to 120 tonnes of scandium trioxide over the first 10 years of operation of NioCorp’s planned Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project (the “Project”) in Nebraska. The contract presupposes the Company securing project financing, obtaining all necessary approvals, and constructing a mine and processing facility at Elk Creek.

Under the sales agreement, Traxys is obligated to purchase 12 tonnes per year of scandium trioxide for the first 10 years of the Project’s production, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions. That annual amount represents approximately 10 percent of NioCorp’s planned annual production of Scandium. Traxys can purchase more than 12 tonnes per year from NioCorp, and the agreement can be extended beyond the 10-year term, by mutual agreement.

At 12 tonnes per year, the size of the NioCorp-Traxys sales contract is approximately equivalent to all current global sales of scandium, according to 2018 estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey. Independent estimates of latent demand for scandium, defined as demand that cannot be satisfied because of a lack of supply or a lack of knowledge of available or affordable supply, peg such demand at several hundred tonnes per year in the aerospace sector alone.[1]

Mark A. Smith, CEO and Executive Chairman of NioCorp, said: “We are very pleased with the size, term, and potential value of this contract. But a core value component of this agreement lies in the strategic partnership it establishes between NioCorp and Traxys. Traxys is a global leader in a variety of strategic and industrial metals markets, and it has a long track record of success in both serving and growing global markets for strategic materials such as scandium. We look forward to working with the leadership at Traxys to build and grow markets for a variety of scandium materials.”

Mark Kristoff, CEO of Traxys, said: “Scandium delivers truly remarkable benefits and enhanced performance across a variety of applications, and global demand for scandium clearly has been limited to date by a lack of supply. NioCorp’s Elk Creek Project will change the fundamental calculus of scandium markets substantially, and we see significant growth potential in these markets as a result. Traxys looks forward to working with NioCorp to establish and grow new markets for scandium and to helping our customers leverage the value of this remarkable metal.”

Traxys will focus its scandium sales and marketing efforts on customers in the aerospace and sporting goods sectors, and it retains the exclusive right to sell NioCorp scandium to those sectors. In return, Traxys has agreed to purchase its entire needs of scandium trioxide, scandium alloys, scandium master alloy and other scandium-based products exclusively from NioCorp, including for scandium sales to other sectors, subject to availability of adequate supplies by NioCorp and other conditions. NioCorp will work with Traxys to promote and market scandium to the aerospace, sporting goods and other industry sectors. NioCorp retains the right to make direct sales of scandium to markets outside of aerospace and sporting goods, as well as direct sales to the U.S. Government.

With over 20 global offices and $6 billion in average annual revenue, Traxys is a global leader in the sales and marketing of a variety of specialty and industrial metals, including the following: magnesium; zinc; copper; lead; cobalt, chrome, manganese; rare earths; vanadium, titanium; tantalum; silicon carbide; uranium; and ferro alloys such as ferro-chrome, ferro-manganese, ferro-nickel, and ferro-niobium. It is majority owned by The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG), with significant minority interests of other private investors and the Traxys management team.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (October 10, 2018) -- NioCorp Developments Ltd. (“NioCorp” or the “Company”) (TSX: NB; OTCQX: NIOBF; and FSE: BR3) is pleased to announce that it has signed a commercial sales agreement with Traxys North America LLC (“Traxys”) for up to 120 tonnes of scandium trioxide over the first 10 years of operation of NioCorp’s planned Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project (the “Project”) in Nebraska. The contract presupposes the Company securing project financing, obtaining all necessary approvals, and constructing a mine and processing facility at Elk Creek.

Under the sales agreement, Traxys is obligated to purchase 12 tonnes per year of scandium trioxide for the first 10 years of the Project’s production, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions. That annual amount represents approximately 10 percent of NioCorp’s planned annual production of Scandium. Traxys can purchase more than 12 tonnes per year from NioCorp, and the agreement can be extended beyond the 10-year term, by mutual agreement.

At 12 tonnes per year, the size of the NioCorp-Traxys sales contract is approximately equivalent to all current global sales of scandium, according to 2018 estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey. Independent estimates of latent demand for scandium, defined as demand that cannot be satisfied because of a lack of supply or a lack of knowledge of available or affordable supply, peg such demand at several hundred tonnes per year in the aerospace sector alone.[1]

Mark A. Smith, CEO and Executive Chairman of NioCorp, said: “We are very pleased with the size, term, and potential value of this contract. But a core value component of this agreement lies in the strategic partnership it establishes between NioCorp and Traxys. Traxys is a global leader in a variety of strategic and industrial metals markets, and it has a long track record of success in both serving and growing global markets for strategic materials such as scandium. We look forward to working with the leadership at Traxys to build and grow markets for a variety of scandium materials.”

Mark Kristoff, CEO of Traxys, said: “Scandium delivers truly remarkable benefits and enhanced performance across a variety of applications, and global demand for scandium clearly has been limited to date by a lack of supply. NioCorp’s Elk Creek Project will change the fundamental calculus of scandium markets substantially, and we see significant growth potential in these markets as a result. Traxys looks forward to working with NioCorp to establish and grow new markets for scandium and to helping our customers leverage the value of this remarkable metal.”

Traxys will focus its scandium sales and marketing efforts on customers in the aerospace and sporting goods sectors, and it retains the exclusive right to sell NioCorp scandium to those sectors. In return, Traxys has agreed to purchase its entire needs of scandium trioxide, scandium alloys, scandium master alloy and other scandium-based products exclusively from NioCorp, including for scandium sales to other sectors, subject to availability of adequate supplies by NioCorp and other conditions. NioCorp will work with Traxys to promote and market scandium to the aerospace, sporting goods and other industry sectors. NioCorp retains the right to make direct sales of scandium to markets outside of aerospace and sporting goods, as well as direct sales to the U.S. Government.

With over 20 global offices and $6 billion in average annual revenue, Traxys is a global leader in the sales and marketing of a variety of specialty and industrial metals, including the following: magnesium; zinc; copper; lead; cobalt, chrome, manganese; rare earths; vanadium, titanium; tantalum; silicon carbide; uranium; and ferro alloys such as ferro-chrome, ferro-manganese, ferro-nickel, and ferro-niobium. It is majority owned by The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG), with significant minority interests of other private investors and the Traxys management team.