NioCorp Developments welcomes US government's interest in scandium

NioCorp Developments Ltd (TSE:NB) has welcomed US government moves to potentially increase the purchase of critical metals, notably scandium, from American production companies.

NioCorp is  advancing a superalloy materials project in southeast Nebraska which will produce chemical elements niobium, scandium and titanium.

Scandium can be combined with aluminum to make alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance.

NioCorp plans to produce around 103 tonnes of scandium a year – estimated to exceed total global scandium production by a factor of at least five, and will potentially position the US as the world’s leading producer of scandium.

The US Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), which is chaired by Rebublican Senator John McCain,  has approved legislation requesting a US Department of Defense (DoD) briefing on the potential strategic value of US produced scandium.

The legislation also “strongly encourages” the DoD to consider entering into commitments to purchase strategic and critical materials from US domestic producers that are not yet in production but which are likely to be so within the next five years.

Mark A. Smith, executive chairman and chief executive of NioCorp, said: “The committee clearly wants to help the U.S. Defense Department use all of the policy tools in its toolbox to encourage and strengthen supply chains for critical and strategic materials, especially those that can be produced domestically in the U.S.

“NioCorp looks forward to initiating the first-ever production in the U.S. of ferroniobium, and the first US production of commercial scandium in decades, when our Elk Creek Project comes online.”

Story by ProactiveInvestors