Niocorp Developments Ltd (NB)

[chico237]

Review of Elk Creek mine Data/information-ALL 14 REE's are present:

All 14 Rare Earth Elements are present in Niocorp's Resource. Looking at the charts provided -TREO (Total Rare Earth Oxide) % on the known drill holes average 1.7 to 2% REES imho. (USGS states TREO between 1%-3%)
Please review:
https://www.niocorp.com/niocorp-to-review-potential-of-adding-rare-earths-to-its-currently-planned-critical-minerals-product-offering/
Also see 2013 publication:
http://niocorp.com/wp-content/uploads/NioCorpMDA-2014Q1.pdf

Other REE-rich carbonatites in the United States include
the Bear Lodge deposit in northeastern Wyoming and the Elk
Creek deposit in southeastern Nebraska

https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1454/circ1454.pdf
Nice TREO %'s

The Elk Creek deposit is a REE- and niobium-rich carbonatite that lies about 200 meters (m) below the surface; it was discovered in 1970 by a regional airborne geophysical survey (Long and others, 2010). Core drilling into the Elk Creek carbonatite during the 1970s, 1980s, and more recently in the 2010s has identified many intervals containing from 1 to more than 3 percent total REO. Recent (2019) developers of the Elk Creek property (NioCorp Developments, Ltd.) have emphasized the carbonatite’s potential resources of niobium, scandium, and titanium.

***NOTE:NIOCORP 6/29/21 posting
https://www.niocorp.com/niocorp-developments-responds-to-market-activity/

Work is expected to commence shortly on the collection of additional historic drill core samples and the submittal of those samples for rare earth analysis to fill in gaps in coverage for the rare earths in the Company’s drill hole database.

Focus Areas for Data Acquisition for Potential Domestic
Resources of 11 Critical Minerals
https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2019/1023/b/ofr20191023b.pdf

Magmatic REE
The Elk Creek Project in Nebraska is being developed to mine the Elk Creek carbonatite. If developed, it will be the only niobium mine and primary niobium processing facility in the United States and will also produce scandium and titanium (U.S. Geological Survey, 2020). The Elk Creek carbonatite is a lower Paleozoic intrusive complex buried
beneath 200 meters of sedimentary rocks. Niobium occurs as the mineral pyrochlore. A high-resolution airborne gravity gradient and magnetic survey flown over the carbonatite in 2012, combined with borehole and physical property data, provided an interpretation of the geophysical signature of the buried deposit and identified anomalies that could represent more mineralized rock at depth (Drenth, 2014). Niobium and tantalum also occur in a variety of peralkaline and related rocks, mainly in the western United States

DRENTH's 2014 USGS geological survey
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265685666_Geophysical_expression_of_a_buried_niobium_and_rare_earth_element_deposit_The_Elk_Creek_carbonatite_Nebraska_USA
(USGS & other articles indicate the resource could be much larger!)

"Geophysical anomalies indicate that a significant volume of dense and strongly magnetized rocks must exist at a depth below the deepest boreholes. These rocks likely represent more MB and thus niobium mineralization, or could reflect another unknown lithology that is also dense and strongly magnetized."

("Hence more drilling"... to prove out more reserves once mine is sunk. This system could be connected to a larger or undrilled resource/s as depicted in the scans??? Just my opinion on the information presented that Niocorp could potentially double the size of the resource in time??)


NIOBIUM ranked #2 on the 2021 U.S. Critical Minerals List Review:
https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1045/ofr20211045.pd
(Niobium is ranked 2nd as the most critical U.S. mineral 2021!)

The BENS US Critical Minerals List Criticality Ranking:
#1)RARE EARTHS #2)SCANDIUM #3)NIOBIUM
https://www.bens.org/file/councils/Criticality-Ranking.pdf

REE's- NOTE:******4/2021
"No Intention of updating the F.S. according to Jim!"
Question #1)
a) "IF" REE's are to be added into the NPV as Mark mentioned. Will another F.S. be needed, or can Niocorp continue progress on the overall project ( sinking of the mine shaft & engineering & design) while this is being worked out? (of course once funding is available)

Response from Jim Sims:
"#1) It is not our intent at this time to update the Project’s Feasibility Study because of the possibility of producing rare earth materials as a byproduct of our current planned operations. Such an update would be required if we wanted to adjust the overall economics of the Project (e.g., allowing for new calculations of the project’s Net Present Value (NPV) and other economic measures) in a manner that reflects the addition of rare earth products. However, taking this step would require a great deal of work and time (and expense), which we do not believe is needed at this time – especially for potential byproducts. That said, there may be other pathways that allow us to quantify estimated production volumes, OPEX, CAPEX, and revenue gain from producing rare earth products that do not involve a wholesale update to our existing FS."

b) What method of Separation does Niocorp intend to utilize to produce REE's & can this method be added "after" the original mine facility is built or will it require a total redesign? (Does this tie into the proprietary CO2 separation Scott & L3 are working on?)

Response to 2nd question:
"#2)Analysis of processing pathways for any prospective production of rare earth products is ongoing. It is likely that we would utilize separation extraction (SX) processes to separate and purify target rare earth elements. This is the process that we already plan to use in order to produce scandium, so it would be relatively straightforward to add additional SX capacity to the existing plant design. SX also is a technology with which our team is highly familiar, as our engineers have previously designed, built, and/or operated much larger SX production operations for rare earth production than would be needed in the Elk Creek Project. However, final decisions on whether and how to produce rare earth materials have not yet been made."
All the best,
Jim

NIOCORP'S RARE EARTH ELEMENTS - Let's take a look!
Listen to Scott Honan as he specifically mentions Nd, Pr, Dy, & Tb in the Elk Creek resource & possibilities:
NioCorp's Scott Honan Talk Nebraska Rare Earths

(Niocorp is utilizing the SX separation method, but is also conducting testing on a proprietary supercritical CO2 method with L3. Again this is an excellent article. You can compare Niocorp's REE PPM to world averages as well as get a good idea of the entire process.
Rare Earth Elements:)Overview of Mining, Mineralogy, Uses,
Sustainability and Environmental Impact
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/3/4/614

Where would Niocorp's TREO resource rank?
Global Rare Earth Comparison Chart:
https://1wcm0741r5ad1d1r7j17fvxq-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/A-grade-comparison-of-global-rare-earth-projects.jpg
(Niocorp averages @1.7% - 2% TREO's Placing the (Elk Creek Mine) roughly in the "middle of the pack" in reference to the chart above. Niocorp will produce Niobiun, Scandium & Titanium & if deemed viable REE's.) Research from USGS & others have shown the Elk Creek mine resource may indeed be part of a much larger system & has stated Niocorp's TREO average between 1% & 3%!!)

Listen to Mark Smiths presentation: (Open it 2-Directions!)
https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.33/gx0.d43.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/NioCorp_Presentation_April_2021.pdf


Nebraska Permits issued to date:
Elk Creek Resources; use NDEQ facility #97622
https://ecmp.nebraska.gov/publicaccess/viewer.aspx?MyQueryID=340
"Looks like the runway is clear for take-off...!? There are a lot of DOTS!!! for me any how...lol"


NioCorp Initiates High Pressure Grinding Roll Testing of its Elk Creek Ore
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/niocorp-initiates-high-pressure-grinding-roll-testing-of-its-elk-creek-ore-301309196.html

HPGR technology is an energy efficient and low-emission alternative for reducing the size of the ore to enable the recovery of niobium, scandium, titanium, and potential rare earth products. The use of HPGR in the Project reinforces the Company's commitment to the environment and designing a sustainable operation.

Niocorp's Elk Creek Mine "shovel-ready" permitted, ESG, Generational Mine project. Based in secure, stable Nebraska has the "Critical Minerals".
I'm very much looking forward to Niocorp officially announcing their findings & plans to add all viable Rare Earth Elements found within the ELK CREEK Resource in Nebraska....!!! =)


"Front row Seats!" ....& I like the "possibilities" to getting down to team Niocorp doing some "commencing here moving forward =)!"

All imho & all....
"If at all possible" -M.S.


Chico