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NioCorp Praises U.S. House Armed Services Committee For Highlighting the Importance of Aluminum-Scandium Master Alloy

National Defense Authorization bill specifically highlights potential scandium oxide production in Nebraska

New focus on scandium in Washington coincides with NioCorp’s recent launch of phased commercialization of aluminum-scandium master alloy
NioCorp envisions potentially developing a vertically integrated mine-to-master alloy scandium supply chain in the U.S.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (July 13, 2023) – NioCorp Developments Ltd. (“NioCorp” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:NB) (TSX:NB) is praising the U.S. House Armed Services Committee (“HASC“) for highlighting the importance of aluminum-scandium master alloy to the United States and to many defense applications. The language was recently approved by the HASC as part of the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”). The bill next moves to the House Rules Committee and the full House for consideration.
In its report accompanying the NDAA, the Committee said that it “recognizes that China is a major producer of high-purity scandium oxide, which has many powerful applications in defense technologies, including strengthening and light-weighting defense and commercial aviation systems. As scandium oxide production is established in the United States, a missing supply chain component is the conversion of scandium from its oxide form to aluminum-scandium (AlSc) master alloy. This process step is required for utilization of U.S.-mined scandium by many defense applications.”
The Committee further noted: “At present, production capacity of AlSc master alloy is limited to one facility in the United States. The committee recognizes that the United States may soon become a major producer of high-purity scandium oxide by virtue of a proposed mine and mineral processing plant in Nebraska. The committee recognizes the defense-wide importance of a vertical domestic supply chain for both scandium oxide and AlSc master alloy and the critical importance of both materials for the production of air-, land-, and sea-based combat systems.”
The Committee went further with additional language: “The committee is aware that the rare earth element scandium has important defense and aviation applications when converted from its mined oxide form to an aluminum-scandium (AlSc) master alloy. The committee understands that the global production of scandium is currently dominated by China and Russia but that the United States is poised to become one of the world’s largest producers of high-purity scandium oxide due to proposed private-sector domestic mine and mineral processing projects. Therefore the committee directs the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 29, 2023 describing the critical defense applications for AlSc master alloy, a list of specific defense programs that require access to AlSc master alloy, and recommendations to improve defense innovation and industrial base access to scandium oxide and AlSc master alloy.”
NioCorp recently launched a phased commercialization effort to produce Al-Sc master alloy in the U.S., in partnership with Nanoscale Powders, LLC (“Nanoscale”) (https://nanoscalepowders.com/). Nanoscale has developed a proprietary process that increases efficiency and reduces environmental impacts of Al-Sc production over traditional approaches. Work is underway at the Pennsylvania facility of Creative Engineers, Inc., (https://creativeengineers.com/) a leading alkali metal chemical process engineering company specializing in processes for sodium, lithium and potassium metal, to test a novel approach to Al-Sc master alloy production that involves separate metal reduction and alloying steps. The goal of the pilot-scale effort is to demonstrate that, at commercial scale, this process will be cost-competitive with other methods of Al-Sc master alloy, and that NioCorp can make Al-Sc master alloy with a range of scandium content.
Mark A. Smith, CEO and Executive Chairman of NioCorp, said: “We are very pleased to see the U.S. House Armed Services Committee highlight the strategic importance of domestic production of both high-purity scandium oxide and aluminum-scandium master alloy. We recognize this as well, which is why NioCorp launched our phased commercialization effort to develop commercial-scale production in the U.S. of this critical and strategic material. Our team is now conducting pilot-scale testing of aluminum-scandium master alloy and we look forward to reporting results as progress continues.”
NioCorp’s phased commercialization effort is being conducted in partnership with Boston-based Nanoscale Powders LLC, which has developed a proprietary process that increases efficiency and reduces the environmental impacts of Al-Sc production over traditional approaches.