Business
NioCorp Applauds White House and EXIM For Bold "Project Vault" Initiative
The Administration's Proposed $12 Billion "Project Vault" Breaks New Ground in the Effort to Empower the U.S. To Reduce its Dependence on Foreign-Produced
About this update from Niocorp Developments Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"The Administration's Proposed $12 Billion \"Project Vault\" Breaks New Ground in the Effort to Empower the U.S. To Reduce its Dependence on Foreign-Produced Critical Minerals CENTENNIAL, CO / ACCESS Newswire / February 4, 2026 / NioCorp Developments Ltd. (\"NioCorp,\" \"our,\" or the \"Company\") (NASDAQ:NB), a leading U.S. critical minerals developer, today applauded the launch by the White House and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (\"EXIM\") of \"Project Vault,\" a ground-breaking effort to establish a U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve (the \"Reserve\") to procure, store, and enable the sale of critical minerals to American manufacturers.The government-industry partnership is anchored by $11 billion from EXIM and approximately $1.67 billion in seed capital from some of the nation's leading companies, such as General Motors, Stellantis, Boeing, Corning, GE Vernova, and Google. Metals trading firm Traxys will play a key enabling role in the Reserve.\"This effort represents exactly the kind of bold and innovative public-private partnership that the U.S. needs right now to facilitate the rapid build-out of domestic critical minerals production and integrated supply chains,\" said Mark A. Smith, Chairman and CEO of NioCorp. \"I commend President Trump and EXIM Chairman John Jovanovic for their vision.\"\"Coupled with the Trump Administration's recent Section 232 findings and January 14 Presidential Proclamation (see this), the Administration is signaling that it intends to move rapidly and aggressively to address excessive U.S. reliance on imported processed critical minerals and derivative products,\" Mr. Smith said.The Commerce Department's Section 232 investigation, which concluded on October 24, 2025, found that heavy reliance on foreign processed critical minerals threatens national security, citing supply chain vulnerabilities, import dependence, and price volatility. The follow-on Presidential Proclamation authorizes the President to pursue negotiated trade measures, tariffs, minimum import prices, and other measures to combat price and market manipulation by foreign governments and incentivize domestic production.\"Breaking China's dominance over critical minerals is essential to America's economic and national security future,\" Mr. Smith added. \"We appreciate the Administration's leadership and EXIM's ...