NioCorp Aiming to Boost US Rare Earths Supply Via Recycling

NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) said on Wednesday (September 18) that it will discuss its plans for producing and potentially recycling rare earth elements at the International Rare Earths Conference.

The event will be held in Washington, DC, and NioCorp will present on October 15. The company will focus on its efforts to produce magnetic rare earth oxides, such as dysprosium and terbium, at its Elk Creek project.

In addition to production, the company will explore the possibility of recycling post-consumer rare earth magnets, aiming to contribute to a growing need for sustainable rare earths supply chains.

Elk Creek, which is located in Nebraska, is designed to utilize a whole ore leach process that would allow NioCorp to extract niobium, scandium, titanium and potentially rare earth oxides from the site.

According to the company, the asset contains the largest indicated terbium resource in the US, as well as the second largest indicated neodymium-praseodymium and dysprosium resources.

The project’s scope may include the recycling of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, which are commonly used in various high-tech applications, such as electric vehicles and wind turbines.

Recycling these magnets could provide a new source of rare earth oxides, reducing reliance on traditional mining operations and global supply chains, particularly from China.

The company is looking to process magnetic rare earth concentrates from sources outside the Asian nation, potentially boosting the production of rare earth elements like dysprosium and terbium.

These elements are critical for various industries, including energy, electronics and defense.

NioCorp plans to begin testing the feasibility of recycling NdFeB magnets once it secures sufficient funding. It aims to research processes to de-magnetize, prepare and grind used magnets into feedstock that could be converted back into separated rare earths products at the Elk Creek facility through NioCorp’s planned chemical processes.

If successful, this could allow NioCorp to increase its planned production of neodymium-praseodymium oxide, dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide beyond what is contained in the Elk Creek ore.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.