Name of the Project
Elk Creek superalloy material project.

Location
Near Elk Creek, in Nebraska, US.

Project Owner/s
NioCorp Superalloy Metals.

Project Description
The Elk Creek orebody represents one of the US’ largest indicated rare-earth resources.

The project is based on an assumption of processing 36.66-million tonnes of ore over a 38-year life-of-mine to produce 171 140 t of niobium in the form of ferroniobium, 3 676 t of scandium oxide and 431 793 t of titanium oxide.

Rare earths have been added to the mineral resource, and the indicated resource contains 6.33-million tonnes of total rare-earth oxide comprising 26 900 t of praseodymium, 98 900 t of neodymium, 2 300 t of terbium, 9 100 t of dysprosium, 970 300 t of niobium oxide, 11.33-million tonnes of scandium oxide and 4.22-million tonnes of titanium oxide.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $2.82-billion and an internal rate of return of 29.2%, with an after-tax payback of 2.69 years from the onset of production.

Capital Expenditure
Upfront capital expenditure is estimated at $1.14-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
About 45 months – from authorisation to proceed to the end of the ramp-up period.

Latest Developments
Electrifying the Elk Creek mine could be a game-changer for the critical minerals project, promising to not only reduce upfront capital and operational expenses but also accelerate production timelines, NioCorp has said.

A scoping study completed by engineering firm Optimize Group in May 2024 suggests that electrifying the Elk Creek mine through a Railveyor system, instead of using the currently planned vertical mining shafts, will have economic and environmental benefits.

The fully electric and autonomous bulk materials handling system delivers mined ore to processing facilities through a narrow-gauge light rail system propelled by low-horsepower drive stations adjacent to the rail route.

“NioCorp is examining this option very seriously and we do not anticipate that choosing this technology pathway will delay an update to the feasibility study for our Elk Creek critical minerals project,” NioCorp COO Scott Honan has stated.

The existing feasibility study shows full ore production at month 45 of the project. In contrast, the new twin-ramp scenario could achieve full production at month 40, owing to the simplification of predevelopment construction activities.

Capital expenditure of $356-million in the 2022 shaft scenario could be reduced to $167-million in the 2024 twin-ramp scenario.

The design examined by Optimize does not feature the production shaft, ventilation shaft or any materials handling infrastructure. The removed infrastructure is replaced with two ramps. Ramp 1 would be for all personnel and equipment movement, while Ramp 2 would be for the Railveyor haulage system.  

According to Railveyor, the haulage system uses a train system with cars that will hold about 1.2 t of material. These cars differ from a traditional train system because they connect to create a single long trough akin to a conveyor belt. This system allows for simple continuous loading in the same way as a conventional conveyor system, but with the haulage flexibility of a train system.

In addition to the Railveyor system running on electricity, the new design would use battery-powered equipment instead of currently planned diesel-powered equipment, which the scoping study has shown would significantly reduce emissions.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Olsson (project permitting); DuPont Clean Technologies (engineering and procurement activities pertaining to the project’s sulphuric acid recycling plant); Veolia Water Technologies (engineering and procurement activities pertaining to the project’s water treatment plant); and Cementation USA (EPC contractor for underground).

Contact Details for Project Information
NioCorp Developments VP of External Affairs Jim Sims, tel +1 720 639 4650, email jim.sims@niocorp.com.