8 Products, One Ore Body, $560/Ton Margin: CEO Mark Smith on NioCorp's Updated Feasibility Study

<p>CEO Mark Smith joins RedChip to break down NioCorp&#39;s (Nasdaq: NB) newly updated Elk Creek feasibility study and the company&#39;s expanding role in U.S. critical minerals supply.NioCorp Developments is advancing the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in Nebraska, a domestic source of niobium, scandium, titanium, and magnetic rare earth elements the U.S. currently imports at rates Smith details in the interview. As Smith explains, the updated feasibility study reflects &quot;a tremendous amount of work&quot; on metallurgy, with the project now positioned to produce eight distinct products from a single ore body — what he calls &quot;a risk mitigation device for a mining company&quot; rarely seen in the industry.The additional product streams translate directly to economics: Smith states the margin on the ore body is about $560 per ton of ore, against a mine plan of roughly one million tons of ore per year. On the scandium side, Smith discusses NioCorp&#39;s work with the Department of War, including the $10 million grant received in August 2025, and a newly announced non-binding memorandum of understanding with Lockheed Martin for the potential purchase of &quot;up to 15 tons per year of scandium&quot; from the Elk Creek operation. Smith also references the company&#39;s ongoing weekly discussions with the U.S. Export-Import Bank as it works toward financing to reach construction.Smith closes by describing scandium as one of the more overlooked pieces of NioCorp&#39;s portfolio today, but one he expects to become &quot;one of the flashier pieces of our project&quot; as the defense and aerospace applications gain traction. NioCorp holds locked-in offtake agreements covering 75% of planned niobium output with Thyssenkrupp and Traxys North America, alongside the largest scandium sales deal on record with Traxys.👉 NioCorp Developments (NB) is a client of RedChip. To learn more about NB and to read our full disclosure, visit: redchip.com/stocks/NB#NB #NioCorp #CriticalMinerals #RareEarths #Scandium #Niobium #Nasdaq #SmallCapStocks #MicroCapStocks #DefenseStocks #NationalSecurity #MiningStocks #InvestorEducation #StockInterviews</p>