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Published: October 16, 2026 |
NioCorp Developments said the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) reiterated its support on Wednesday to consider providing financing for the cost of constructing the company’s Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in southeast Nebraska, subject to satisfactory completion of EXIM’s current due diligence review of NioCorp’s application for debt financing.
In a letter of support signed by EXIM Chairman and President John Jovanovic and NioCorp Executive Chairman and CEO Mark Smith during a ceremony at the Elk Creek Project, EXIM said: “At this point, EXIM retains our target outlined in the preliminary project letter of providing debt financing equivalent to approximately 65 percent of the project’s upfront CAPEX requirements.”
NioCorp’s feasibility study, issued on August 10, 2026, and the technical report summary, issued on September 25, 2026, estimated the Elk Creek Project’s total upfront capital expenditures at approximately $1.85 billion.
EXIM also stated in the letter that it “expects to continue advancing its due diligence efforts and anticipates presenting the transaction for further internal review through EXIM’s Transaction Review Committee (TRC) process as expeditiously as practicable.”
The letter was signed during a visit to the Elk Creek Project attended by U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, U.S. Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts, U.S. Representative Adrian Smith, Nebraska State Senator Bob Hallstrom, and other state and local leaders.
“The Elk Creek Minerals Project is exactly the type of opportunity EXIM was always designed to support. By advancing U.S. control over the critical minerals essential to aircraft, automobiles, advanced manufacturing, and our broad industrial base, this project means more good jobs in Nebraska, more opportunities for American workers and a stronger, more secure industrial future for the United States,” said EXIM Chairman and President John Jovanovic.
During remarks at the Elk Creek Project, Chairman Jovanovic also addressed the importance of strengthening U.S. critical mineral supply chains.
“We’ve become over-reliant on markets that aren’t free, they aren’t fair, and they aren’t functioning. All we want to do today is level the playing field and allow American capital, American innovation, American engineers, and fantastic entrepreneurs and great companies led by the likes of Mark Smith to really succeed. All that changes with projects like NioCorp. All that changes with what we’re doing today,” said Jovanovic.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright directly connected the Elk Creek Project with U.S. national security.
“This is not just the economics of the United States. This is our national security that rests on what’s underground right here. We can’t just talk about them and write a few papers and then hand it off to the next administration. We actually have to act. We have to do something to change the situation we’re in,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.
Secretary Wright also highlighted EXIM’s role in addressing financing challenges facing U.S. critical minerals projects.
“His leaning in to provide the capital in a marketplace where China has distorted that marketplace. [China] has purposefully and strategically made it uneconomic to do what we’re doing here today,” said Wright.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen praised the persistence behind the Elk Creek Project and its role in strengthening domestic critical mineral supply chains.
“This is a step, a big step in the right direction. We have lots of work ahead to do, but I’m incredibly proud to be a small part of it,” said Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen.
U.S. Senator Deb Fischer highlighted the project’s importance both to U.S. national security and to rural economic development in Nebraska.
“This project also represents an extraordinary economic opportunity for rural Nebraska with the potential to support thousands of American jobs and really to generate some long-term economic growth across this region. Today’s letter signing marks another important step for NioCorp as they work to continue to get that federal financing review process going,” said U.S. Senator Deb Fischer.
U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts highlighted the importance of establishing secure domestic supplies of the critical minerals planned for production at Elk Creek.
“Establishing secure supply lines on things such as niobium and scandium, titanium, magnetic rare earths, and processing them here is vital. This is a vital project. I’m so proud that Nebraska is part of it. This is something that’s important for our country, for our state, and for the community here in Elk Creek and Johnson County,” said U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts.
U.S. Representative Adrian Smith, whose district includes the Elk Creek Project, highlighted progress underway at the site.
“To see things in action here already, it’s so exciting. We want to see this through all the way to a very successful and continued operation,” said U.S. Representative Adrian Smith.
NioCorp Executive Chairman and CEO Mark Smith said the visit demonstrated the breadth of support for advancing Elk Creek and strengthening domestic critical mineral supply chains.
“For the nation, it means a reliable domestic source of material our economy and our military simply cannot do without. And it’s going to be produced to American standards by American workers on American soil,” said NioCorp Executive Chairman and CEO Mark Smith.
“None of this happens alone. It takes partners at every level of government who understand that critical mineral security is national security,” added Smith.
NioCorp is developing the Elk Creek Project that is expected to produce niobium, scandium, and titanium. The company also is evaluating the potential to produce several rare earths from the Elk Creek Project. Niobium is used to produce specialty alloys as well as high strength, low alloy steel, which is a lighter, stronger steel used in automotive, structural, and pipeline applications. Scandium is a specialty metal that can be combined with aluminum to make alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance. Scandium is also a critical component of advanced solid oxide fuel cells. Titanium is used in various lightweight alloys and is a key component of pigments used in paper, paint and plastics and is also used for aerospace applications, armor, and medical implants. Magnetic rare earths, such as neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, and dysprosium are critical to the making of neodymium-iron-boron magnets, which are used across a wide variety of defense and civilian applications.
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