Critical minerals developer NioCorp Developments has entered into a non-binding agreement with Traxys North America, outlining a long-term marketing and offtake arrangement for NioCorp’s remaining planned critical minerals products from its Elk Creek project in Nebraska.
Subject to a definitive contract, NioCorp would be positioned to sell out of its planned critical minerals products for the first 10 years of operation, following the successful completion of project financing and commencement of commercial production. NioCorp has already placed 75% of its planned ferroniobium production and 12% of its planned scandium oxide production under contract.
“Upon execution of definitive agreements with Traxys, we believe that this initiative moves NioCorp closer to securing full project financing for the Elk Creek project,” said Mark A. Smith, CEO and executive chairman of NioCorp.
“Together with our existing offtake agreement with ThyssenKrupp for 50% of our planned ferroniobium production during the first 10 years of operations, a definitive deal with Traxys would lead to the sale of all our remaining planned products for the first 10 years of operations. This would address one of the key remaining due diligence items in the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) review of our proposed debt financing package.”
Traxys currently has commercial offtake agreements covering 25% of NioCorp’s planned ferroniobium production and up to 12% of its planned scandium production, both over the first 10 years of operations. Under the proposed offtake agreement, this relationship would be expanded to include an additional 25% of the planned ferroniobium production on a take-or-pay basis and the remaining scandium production, as well as 100% of the planned production of all other products, on a best-efforts basis for the first 10 years of operations.
“The Elk Creek project represents a key future source of critical minerals for U.S. and allied markets,” said Mark Kristoff, CEO of Traxys. “The United States currently has no primary domestic production of niobium or scandium. Aside from limited production of the magnetic rare earths neodymium and praseodymium, the U.S. remains 100% dependent on foreign producers of heavy magnetic rare earth elements. Bringing new domestic supplies of these critical minerals into the market is strategically and commercially vital for the United States. Expanding our marketing role with NioCorp further supports that goal.”