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NioCorp announced that its rare metals mining project proposed for southeastern Nebraska will begin construction in December 2026. The mineral development company has pursued plans for the Elk Creek mine for over a decade.
NioCorp received a $10 million grant from the United States Department of Defense’s Production Act Title III program, in August. The Defense Department says the program aims to invest in domestic projects to support U.S. supply chains for national defense.
NioCorp, with the Defense Department grant, said it expects to produce a domestic scandium supply chain at its proposed Elk Creek facility, as well as niobium and titanium.
Since receiving the grant, NioCorp has reported its acquisition of ownership of the land, its completion of over 11,000 meters of drilling, and the raising of around $360 million for the estimated $1.2 billion project.
NioCorp held a town hall at Elk Creek’s community center which provided updates on the progression of the mining project in early December. The town hall held two sessions, which included about 600 in attendance, according to NioCorp.
The company reported that the project is waiting for approval of a $780 million debt financing application from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a step that must be taken before the company can begin final permitting and construction.
EXIM President and Chairman John Jovanovic spoke via recorded video, voicing support for the company and the Defense Department’s goal.
“The Elk Creek Minerals Project is exactly the type of opportunity EXIM was always designed to support. Advancing U.S. control over the critical minerals essential to aircraft, automobiles, advanced manufacturing, and our broad industrial base,” Jovanovic said. “This project means more good jobs in Nebraska, more opportunities for American workers, and a stronger, more secure industrial future for the United States.”
Beyond federal funding, company officials addressed potential environmental concerns for the project including water usage and radiation content of the ore. CEO and President of NioCorp Mark Smith said the radiation levels will be monitored but should not be a concern.
“We do have uranium and thorium in the ore body. Every earth ore body has those constituents in it,” Smith said. “These levels are low enough that they don’t take any federal licensing through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It’s exempt because they are so low in quantity.”
The CEO said that the company will use dosimeter data, which measures radiation exposure, to ensure the safety of the site's workers and will comply with Nebraska’s license requirements.
NioCorp Chief Operating Officer Scott Honan explained how the mine will use water. Honan said the project will use a closed loop system which will reuse most of the water.
“There’s going to be water that comes out of the underground mine. We will capture all of that. We treat it and we reuse it,” Honan said. “But having said that, there are places where we are going to lose water.”
Honan explained that the company would evaporate water using cooling towers. The towers use water to provide cooling for the mine’s environment and production. He said another way the company would lose water is through its waste management.
“In terms of what comes out of our plant waste materials, we’ll take that, and we’ll mix it with cement and fly ash and pump it back underground into the voids we create by mining,” he said. “To make it pumpable, it has to have a certain amount of water, and that water is lost to us.”
The company also discussed how the mine could shape the surrounding community, including job creation, road improvements, and traffic impacts. Scott Honan told attendees that NioCorp would provide the community with on-site jobs.
“To get the mine started, we will, as a necessity, have to bring in some experienced miners from outside the state, as the initial core staff,” said Honan. “The plan after that is, to hire locally, to staff out the mine workforce. We will provide the training for folks to do that.”
The site is expected to create 450 on-site jobs, including laborers, engineers, scientists, business executives, and other roles. Mark Smith said the company will attempt to prioritize hiring locally.
“We want to hire the local Nebraska people,” Smith said. “If there's a job to be done out there on site, we bend over backwards to use Nebraska companies to do those jobs, and we want to keep that going.”
Earlier this year, the company conducted a traffic study on Highway 50 near the jobsite entrance. The proposed construction includes adding turn lanes on Highway 50 and paving Road 721. Johnson County approved contracts to support the project, which is completely funded by the company, according to NioCorp.
“With the mine that we are going to have and the quantity of materials that we will be producing, it’s conducive to trucking,” Smith said. “That’s one of the reasons why we want to make sure we do those improvements to the road to improve the safety there.”
Two Johnson County commissioners declined to comment on the project.