NioCorp Advances Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project After Raising $60.7 Million in New Capital
CENTENNIAL, CO – July 22, 2025 — NioCorp Developments Ltd. (“NioCorp” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: NB) announced plans to fast-track pre-construction activities at its Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in Nebraska, following the successful raising of approximately $60.7 million over the past three months from institutional investors.
The new funding, which includes about $18.9 million secured through a public equity offering that closed on April 21 and another $41.8 million from an offering closed on July 18, enables the Company to move more aggressively toward project development milestones while continuing to secure full project financing.
“NioCorp is now empowered to accelerate field activities and other pre-construction work streams so that the Elk Creek Project can get out of the blocks that much faster once full project financing is obtained,” said Mark A. Smith, NioCorp CEO and Executive Chairman. “Early capital helps us get a jump in many different areas that in turn should help us accelerate bringing our products to market that much sooner. There is both an economic and a national defense imperative to getting strategic U.S. resources like the Elk Creek Project online as rapidly as possible.”
The Elk Creek Project aims to be North America’s only producer of niobium, scandium, and titanium — strategic materials vital for clean energy technologies, advanced manufacturing, and national security applications. With global supply chains strained by geopolitical tensions, U.S. policymakers have prioritized reshoring these critical minerals, and the Trump Administration has announced historic new funding streams to bolster domestic mining, processing, and supply chain development.
“Our success in raising equity capital also provides important support and momentum to our ongoing engagement with the U.S. Export-Import Bank and other debt finance providers as we continue to assemble our project financing,” Smith added. “With the intensive new focus and additional government funding by the Trump Administration to accelerate critical minerals mining, processing and supply chain development in the U.S., we feel a responsibility to accelerate our efforts to deliver multiple critical mineral products to market.”
As it ramps up, NioCorp plans to launch several key pre-construction initiatives at Elk Creek, including:
- Additional land acquisition to support future site expansion
- Geomechanical and hydrogeological field work to refine engineering plans
- Detailed engineering design to advance construction-ready plans
- Early works and site preparation, including utility hookups and foundational infrastructure
- Operational permitting activities
- Recruiting and building out the owner’s project management team
The Company is also advancing discussions with debt financing partners and expects this early progress will shorten the time between securing final funding and beginning full-scale construction.
NioCorp’s Elk Creek deposit is one of the world’s largest undeveloped sources of niobium, scandium, and titanium — materials critical for lightweight alloys, advanced batteries, high-strength steel, aerospace parts, solid oxide fuel cells, and permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and defense applications.
The U.S. currently imports nearly all its supply of these minerals from foreign sources, which has raised national security concerns amid global competition for clean energy materials.
By advancing the Elk Creek Project now, NioCorp says it hopes to help meet both domestic manufacturing demand and strategic stockpiling goals set by the federal government.
For more information about the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project, visit www.niocorp.com.
Originally reported by NioCorp Developments Ltd. in Web Disclosure.