Mining Intelligence and News
United States

Elk Creek Project

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Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • REE
  • Niobium
  • Titanium
  • Scandium
  • Total Rare Earth Oxides
Mining Method
  • Longhole stoping
Backfill type ... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Elk Creek project is a critical minerals project with the highest-grade Niobium resource in North America, that will produce niobium, scandium, and titanium.

NioCorp is currently conducting technical and economic analyses on the potential addition ofmagnetic rare earth oxides to its planned product suite.

Proposed Activities
As funds become available through the Company’s fundraising efforts, it expects to undertake the major following activities:
- Continuation of the Company’s efforts to secure federal, state and local operating permits;
- Continued evaluation of the potential to produce rare earth products and sell such products under offtake agreements;
- Negotiation and completion of engineering, procurement, and construction agreements;
- Completion of the final detailed engineering for the underground portion of the Elk Creek Project.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
NioCorp Developments Ltd. (operator) 100 % Indirect
The Property consists of one 91.5 ha (226 acre) parcel of land owned by NioCorp Developments Ltd. along with 8 option-to-purchase agreements covering approximately 565 hectares (ha). Option agreements are between NioCorp's subsidiary Elk Creek Resources Corp. (ECRC) and the individual landowners.

Elk Creek Resources Corporation (ECRC) is a Nebraska based wholly owned subsidiary of NioCorp. NioCorp retains 100% of the mineral rights to the Project and is the operator.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Carbonatite hosted

Summary:

The Project is hosted within the Elk Creek Carbonatite. By definition a carbonatite is an igneous rock body with greater than 50% modal carbonate minerals, mainly in the form of calcite, dolomite, ankerite, or sodium- and potassium-bearing carbonates. Carbonatites commonly occur as intrusive bodies, such as isolated sills, dikes, or plugs, although rarely occur as extrusive rocks. Many carbonatites are associated with alkali silicate rocks (for example, syenite, nepheline syenite, ijolite, urtite, pyroxenite, etc.). Carbonatites are usually surrounded by an aureole of metasomatically altered rocks called fenites. Carbonatite-associated deposits can be classified as magmatic or metasomatic types (Richardson and Birkett, 1996).

The property hosts niobium, titanium, and scandium mineralization as well as REE and barium mineralization that occur within the Elk Creek Carbonatite.

The current known extents of the high grade niobium, titanium, and scandium are approximately 750 m along strike, 400 m wide, and 800 m in dip extent below the unconformity.

Niobium and Titanium Mineralization
The deposit contains significant concentrations of niobium. Based on the metallurgical test work completed to date at a number of laboratories using QEMSCAN® analysis, the niobium mineralization is known to be fine-grained, and that 77% of the niobium occurs in the mineral pyrochlore, while the balance occurs in an iron-titanium-niobium oxide mineral of varying composition. Within the mineralized Carbonatite, there are 14,284 samples of Nb2O5, the maximum Nb2O5 grade is 4.472%, and the mean Nb2O5 grade is 0.518%.

Scandium Mineralization
Within the Elk Creek Carbonatite, a host of other elements exist with varying degrees of concentration. The Company has completed both whole rock analysis and multi-element analysis
on all samples for the 2014 program, plus re-sampling of selected historical core and/or pulps between 2011 and 2014.

As the metallurgical test work advanced during 2014 and 2015, the ability to obtain a titanium dioxide (TiO2) and scandium (Sc) product became apparent. TiO2 is typically found to be related to the niobium grades with a range of 3:1 to 4:1 found within the core of the deposit. The scandium mineralization does not directly correlate to niobium mineralization but does show a grade increase with increasing niobium at low grades and high grade Scandium (>75 ppm) is also associated with higher grade concentrated distributions of CaO, Mgo, Th, U and Pb and As.

Rare Earth Element Mineralization
Within the Elk Creek Carbonatite complex, there are several occurrences of REE mineralization, including the Project. REE mineralization within the Carbonatite occurs within the following minerals:
• Bastnäsite ([Ce,La,Y]CO3F);
• Parisite (Ca[Ce,La]2[CO3]3F2);
• Synchysite (Ca(Ce,La)(CO3)2 F);
• Monazite ([Ce,La]PO4).

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

The assumed products are a ferroniobium product (metallic alloy shots consisting of 65%Nb and 35% Fe), a titanium dioxide product in powder form, and scandium trioxide in powder form.

FeNb alloy ratio: Fe/Nb = 0.35/0.65).
CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Niobium Ferro-niobium t 7,220171,140
Titanium dioxide Powder t 12,000431,793
Sc2O3 Powder t 1003,676

Operational metrics

Metrics
Daily ore mining rate  ....  Subscribe
Daily processing rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe
Waste tonnes, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Total tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Pre-tax break-even price Sc2O3 USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Sc2O3 USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Titanium dioxide USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Niobium USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study / presentation.

Operating Costs

CurrencyAverage
UG mining costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Closure costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
UG OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M USD 3,911
Freight costs $M USD 10.5
G&A costs $M USD 300.4
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Operating margin (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 21, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 28, 2022
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 28, 2022

Total WorkforceYear
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Aerial view:

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