"NioCorp Developments has begun construction of the main underground access portal at its Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in southeast Nebraska, marking the transition from planning to pre-construction at what will be North America's only mine producing niobium, scandium, and titanium. The $44.6 million portal project, backed by more than $500 million in capital raised over the past year, advances one of the most strategically significant domestic mineral projects in the pipeline."
Construction Begins at Elk Creek
NioCorp Developments announced on February 26 that construction of the main access to the underground portion of its Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in southeast Nebraska has officially begun. The company has mobilized construction equipment to the project site near Elk Creek, approximately 80 miles south of Omaha, and launched an approximately $44.6 million effort to construct the mine's main entrance, known as a portal, that will serve as the primary access point for personnel, equipment, and materials. The portal will also be used to deliver ore from the underground mine to the surface production plant.
NioCorp filed a formal Notice of Commencement with the Mine Safety and Health Administration in conjunction with the effort. The scope includes excavating to bedrock, drilling and blasting to establish twin mine ramps, on-site access road construction, and supporting infrastructure. NioCorp COO Scott Honan described the work as creating a wedge-shaped excavation in the bedrock that will allow the start of two tunnels extending down to the ore body.
The portal project advances Elk Creek from a planning phase into pre-construction at the Nebraska site. A formal groundbreaking ceremony is planned for after the company's Board of Directors makes a final investment decision following completion of overall project financing.
Project Economics and Scale
The broader Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project carries an estimated upfront capital cost of approximately $1.14 billion, based on NioCorp's 2022 feasibility study. The study projects a $2.8 billion pre-tax net present value, a 29.2 percent pre-tax internal rate of return, and $403 million in averaged annual EBITDA over a 38-year mine life.
The project is designed to produce three primary commercial products. Ferroniobium, the commercial form of niobium used as an additive to high-strength low-alloy steel, is projected at an annualized production rate of 7,055 tonnes. Scandium trioxide is projected at 103 tonnes per year. Titanium dioxide is projected at 11,445 tonnes per year. The company has signed offtake agreements covering 75 percent of forecast ferroniobium production and 10 to 15 percent of scandium production, and has signed a rare earth offtake term sheet with Stellantis.
NioCorp has raised approximately $500 million in capital investment in 2025 and year-to-date in 2026, including a recent $100 million capital raise. The company is working to secure a $780 million debt financing application from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a step that must be completed before a final investment decision and full construction launch. EXIM President and Chairman John Jovanovic has voiced support for the project, stating that Elk Creek is exactly the type of opportunity EXIM was designed to support. The loan could be finalized as soon as the second or third quarter of 2026, with a roughly three-year timeline to fully construct the mining facility.
Strategic Mineral Supply
Elk Creek's significance extends beyond its economics. The project would be North America's only mine producing niobium, scandium, and titanium from a single polymetallic ore body, and the company is evaluating the potential to add several magnetic rare earth oxides, including neodymium-praseodymium oxide, dysprosium oxide, and terbium oxide, to its product suite.
The United States currently relies entirely on imports for niobium, with Brazil as the dominant global supplier through CBMM's operations. There is no commercial niobium production anywhere in North America. Scandium is similarly import-dependent, with China as the primary source. Titanium is largely imported from a handful of countries, with historical reliance on Russia and Ukraine creating supply chain vulnerabilities that have been exposed by geopolitical events.
The Elk Creek mineral resource is the second-largest indicated rare earth resource in the United States, according to USGS data and company reports, second only to MP Materials' Mountain Pass deposit in California. The deposit contains the largest indicated terbium resource and the second-largest indicated dysprosium resource in the country. NioCorp has demonstrated a recovery rate of 92 percent or better for rare earths at its demonstration plant, and a feasibility assessment of rare earth production is under evaluation.
Niobium's market dynamics are distinctive among critical minerals. Pricing has been remarkably stable compared to the wild swings that characterize lithium, cobalt, and rare earth markets, reflecting a well-developed global demand base anchored by the steel industry. Niobium-strengthened steel is lighter and stronger than conventional alternatives, reducing energy consumption and emissions in automotive, structural, and pipeline applications. Emerging demand from solid-state battery technologies using titanium-niobium lithium-ion chemistries could expand the market further.
Local Impact and Infrastructure
The Elk Creek project occupies an initial operational footprint of roughly 640 acres along Highway 50, six miles south of Tecumseh, Nebraska. The carbonatite formation that hosts the deposit was first discovered in 1971, and NioCorp has pursued development of the site for over a decade.
The mine is expected to create approximately 450 on-site jobs once operational, including laborers, engineers, scientists, and business executives. NioCorp plans to bring in experienced miners from outside the state for the initial core staff, then hire and train locally to fill out the workforce. CEO Mark Smith has stated that the company will prioritize hiring Nebraskans and using Nebraska companies for on-site work.
The project is designed with a closed-loop water system that captures and treats water from the underground mine for reuse. Tailings will be mixed with cement and fly ash and pumped back underground as mine backfill, eliminating the need for surface tailings storage. All underground mining equipment will run on electricity through the Railveyor bulk material handling system, which replaces the previously planned twin-shaft design and is expected to reduce initial capital costs through simplified underground infrastructure. The project has obtained all federal, state, and local government permits needed to move to a construction start and is aligned with the Equator Principles ESG framework.
The project is expected to generate over $600 million in state and local taxes over its operating life.
Outlook
The portal construction is a tangible milestone, but the path to full production remains contingent on securing the EXIM debt financing that will fund the broader $1.14 billion construction effort. The company has positioned the portal work as a critical-path schedule item that keeps the project timeline moving while financing negotiations continue.
If the EXIM loan is finalized by mid-2026 as anticipated, full construction could begin later this year with first production potentially achievable by fiscal year 2027 or 2028. The three-year construction timeline from final investment decision to operation places Elk Creek among the faster development schedules for a major underground mine, though the project's long gestation period, more than a decade from discovery to portal construction, illustrates the structural timelines that constrain critical mineral supply chain development in the United States.
For a country that imports 100 percent of its niobium and scandium, and that has identified both as critical to national security and advanced manufacturing, Elk Creek represents the rare convergence of geological endowment, project readiness, and political support needed to move a domestic critical minerals project from aspiration to physical construction.