Chico; From page 48 of that report;
"42An action plan developed in response to President Biden's Executive Order 14017
This section provides an update on the 100-day response to E.O. 14017—Review of Critical Minerals and Materials. The DoD was responsible for assessing supply chain risks for critical minerals and materials and proposing a set of recommendations to mitigate those challenges.Since the publication of the report in June 2021, the DoD has been working to implement those recommendations. This section provides an overview of the critical mineral and material supply chains, supply chain risks and an update on the progress made in implementing the recommendations from the 100-day review"
n the 100-day reporting exercise for strategic and critical materials under E.O.14017 the DoD highlight ed four key pillars to the U.S.Government’s approach to increasing the resiliency of this sector:
1. Drive Demand. Develop new sustainability standards and update existing ones for strategic and critical material-intensive industries and incorporate these standards into Federal procurement.
2.Stimulate Supply. Expand sustainable production and processing, including recycling and nontraditional mining, such as reclamation of mine wastes.
3. Hedge Risk. Strengthen U.S. stockpiles
4. Promote Equity. Work with allies and partners to increase traceability and transparency in global
supply chains.
In the eight months since the release of the 100-day report, the DoD and the interagency have cleared a series of interim objectives against these national priorities With respect to sustainability standards, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DOE are leading this effort within the Federal Government.
There is an initial focus on incorporating criteria that incentivize recycling and the reuse of critical materials in consumer electronics through the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
eco-label. EPA has also released a National Recycling Strategy. DoD also intends to coordinate with DOE on critical minerals issues which impact the clean energy supply chain and domestic manufacturing sectors. For allies and partners, since the release of the 100-day report, the interagency have held more than five senior-leader engagements with allies and partners to drive tangible diversification of supply chains.
Though DoD plays a contributing role in each of the above areas, the DoD is the lead component for strengthening U.S. ... Snip
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Niocorp is interested in step 2, "Stimulate Supply. Expand sustainable production and processing...snip"
I am afraid that this administration prefers to view this as an opportunity to implement elements of their ideological agenda rather than to actually support the defense supply chain. I hope I am wrong and that some funding guarantees or grants for NioCorp happen (or have happened) but I think that they really want to play in the REE Coal Fly Ash sandbox and virtuous recycling and they are willing to use the DOD for this purpose.
We are in a 50 day silent period which hopefully results in News and Funding, debt or equity, but soon.
