Niocorp Developments Ltd (NB)

[chico237]

Titanium: Impact Of Russo-Ukrainian War On Aviation Supply Chains
https://www.mobilityoutlook.com/commentary/impact-of-russoukrainian-war-on-aviation-supply-chains/

At least some part of the global supply chain is dependent on sourcing the required raw materials from Russia, and an essential material is titanium. The impact can be further gauged by taking the example of titanium exports from Russia, supplied to the three major OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) – Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer. All the titanium used in Embraer aircraft (100%), 65% of titanium used in Airbus aircraft, and almost 35% of titanium used in Boeing aircraft is sourced from Russia.

Titanium is a light metal and its high strength-to-weight ratio makes it a critical element for the aerospace industry, with wide usage found in aero-structures and engines. Russia is a crucial player in the export of titanium, with the Russian corporation VSMPO-AVISMA being its largest producer worldwide. The titanium elements in most of Boeing’s B787 aircraft variants are courtesy of VSMPO-AVISMA.

NIOCORP is seeking to upgrade the Titanium oxide, add viable REE's, & incorporate them into a revised F.S. in 2022...WHY????? ~Note: Niocorp as posted has been in talks with Industry & Govt. entities ...Some must be interested??~

Please see Jim's response to questions posed for comment-3/17/2022
A) Could you comment on what the production of higher purity niobium & titanium could be utilized for once realized?

If the higher purity niobium and titanium intermediates that L3 was able to produce at bench-scale are replicated and proven at demonstration scale, this would put us in a position to more easily move to other products beyond those outlined in our 2019 Feasibility Study. Niobium oxide for use in Li-Ion batteries is one possible example, although the production of that product would require additional processing steps beyond the higher-purity niobium intermediate that we discussed in last week’s news release. The company is not yet in a position to make a determination on whether or not, and when, to possibly expand our Niobium product offering. Higher grade TiO2 could expose us to additional markets where higher margins could be obtained. But, again, we are not in a position to speak to those possibilities in any detail yet.

B) Niocorp’s preferred separation method is SX. Are these higher purity processes part of an improved SX process or “something else”?

No, the processes we recently discussed occur in the earlier stages of the flowsheet, prior to any SX processing. We look forward to unveiling those details once these processes are verified at the demonstration plant level and once all associated work needed to complete an updated Feasibility Study is completed.

(NIOCORP is not reinventing the wheel here. See Eric Larochelle's/L3 patent)

See Also L3's patent- Process for recovering titanium dioxide from titanium containing materials
https://uspto.report/patent/grant/10,480,047

Advantages of Titanium Processing Techniques
Thus, implementations of processes and systems described herein can facilitate the production of pigment grade titanium dioxide and/or the processing of various streams and materials in the context of extracting valuable materials from ore. Additional aspects of the process can be adapted to produce various other grades or titanium dioxide, if desired, although pigment grade titanium dioxide is preferably produced. Various processes and systems described herein can also produce other product streams, such as yellow pigment materials and magnesium sulfate. Additional processing can extract other compounds or materials from certain streams of the process, for example if the original ore or feed material contains certain valuable fractions.

Pricing Chinese Titanium Dioxide Pigment 2022
https://www.made-in-china.com/products-search/hot-china-products/Titanium_Dioxide_Pigment_Price.html
(The Titanium "PIGMENT" grade pricing appears to be far greater than 1$ per ton as given in the 2019 F.S.)


Also SEE Jim's response to Middleboarder:
Q] Can you please provide any ballpark estimate on timeline for creating a demonstration scale plant and the measuring of targeted REE’s? are we looking at months or quarters ( rought estimate only)?

Jim's Response:
"In answer to your question below, we are not in a position at this point to provide such estimates, although the demonstration plant is expected to begin operation in April. The demonstration plant will confirm metallurgical performance and recoveries for the rare earths, which have been established through bench-scale testwork on our ore as well as numerical modeling. In addition to the chemical and metallurgical test work to be done in the demo plant, a good deal of additional work will need to be done in order to update all necessary parts of our 2019 Feasibility Study to integrate rare earths into the Project, including a new economic model detailing the expected financial performance of the Project.

Notwithstanding this, our project finance efforts are continuing on multiple levels".
"Regarding your question, virtually any significant change to a planned facility’s air emission would require an updated air permit. This is not at all uncommon in large projects. In our case, should we add rare earths, that would alter our air emissions profile to a degree that would almost certainly require an updated air permit from the State of Nebraska".

"That said, we have an existing air permit that allows for construction, and we could certainly proceed at the very least with the construction of any facilities that haven’t changed as a result of the addition of rare earths. At this point, that would be most of the project."

SEE also a portion of Jims response to Alwaysoptomistic:

Also important in this regard is the fact that there are many more manufacturers today that are actively seeking non-Chinese sources of REE materials. In years past, consumers of REEs made purchase decisions largely based on price. Today’s markets are very different. Governments around the world – particularly in the European Union – are developing REE sourcing policies that will require manufacturers to use greater amounts of non-Chinese REEs. European automotive manufacturers in particular are now more sensitive to the geographic sourcing of the REEs they need. We know this because we are in direct discussions now with companies in that industry in both North America and Europe.

See GE's board post: Project Blue Group:
(Niocorp's highly derisked & shovel ready Elk Creek Mine can indeed supply some of the top critical minerals listed!)
https://theprojectbluegroup.com/critical-materials?_token=Aag57KhpkVzCtFAbQgvJ9HkJ5uL4ee0kWlOegScA&cmi_name=Cobalt

Waiting for "Material News as it becomes available:"
a) Announce a market compliant REE Ni-43-101 Mineral Resource report
b) Complete optimization/tweaking of the HydroMet & prove Separation at Pilot plant scale of all minerals including REE's
c) Update F.S. in 2022
d) achieve "meaningful substantial" Debt/Equity finance via a number of options-
(Anchor investor, private industry, Govt. loan guarantee & other means...)

IMHO & form your own conclusions:
(Nice time to buy if you believe or Hold!)
Holding the line & hunkered down... with many here.

Chico