NioCorp Developments announced that a Pentagon-funded exploratory drilling program at its Elk Creek critical minerals project in southeast Nebraska has been completed.
The drilling program was designed to support converting a portion of the company’s current Indicated Resources into Measured Resources and the subsequent conversion of a portion of its current Probable Mineral Reserves into Proven Mineral Reserves. The effort was designed to meet Mineral Reserve requirements of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. as it processes a proposed debt financing package of up to $800 million for the Elk Creek project.
“We want to thank the Trump administration and the Pentagon for funding these programs, which are designed to support the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s ongoing processing of NioCorp’s proposed debt financing for the project,” said NioCorp CEO and Chairman Mark A. Smith. “It is gratifying to see multiple federal agencies working hand-in-glove under President Trump to continue to advance the ball toward reducing America’s dangerous dependence on imports of critical minerals such as niobium, scandium, titanium, and rare earths.”
Phase I of the resource drilling program, which was completed in August, involved 11 HQ diamond drill holes, totaling approximately 7,336 meters of drilling. Phase 2 of the resource drilling program involved four HQ diamond drill holes totaling approximately 2,235 m of drilling. Drill core processing and analysis are currently underway.
Two additional HQ diamond drill holes are being drilled for geomechanical purposes in the areas where NioCorp plans to locate underground mine access ramps/declines. Total meterage associated with that drilling is 1,950 m.