Business
NioCorp Demonstrates Higher Niobium Recovery Rates
New Processing Approach Demonstrates the Ability to Make More Niobium per Tonne of Ore, Produce a Higher Purity Product, and Potentially Address New Markets
About this update from Niocorp Developments Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"New Processing Approach Demonstrates the Ability to Make More Niobium per Tonne of Ore, Produce a Higher Purity Product, and Potentially Address New Markets with Different Niobium ProductsCENTENNIAL, CO / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2023 / NioCorp Developments Ltd. (\"NioCorp\" or the \"Company\") (NASDAQ:NB)(TSX:NB) is pleased to announce that it has successfully demonstrated the ability to recover greater amounts of the critical mineral niobium from each tonne of ore the Company expects to mine at its Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project, located in southeast Nebraska, once sufficient financing is obtained and the project is constructed.Final results from NioCorp's metallurgical demonstration plant in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, show that NioCorp's new and improved recovery process can achieve a 90.7% rate of niobium recovery through the hydrometallurgical process. Overall recovery through the pyrometallurgical production of the commercial product ferroniobium is expected to be 86.7%. NioCorp's previous approach to niobium production was able to achieve recovery rates through the hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurtical processes of 86.8% and 82.4%, respectively.The higher rates of niobium recovery from NioCorp's new process point to the likelihood of higher niobium production levels from NioCorp from the same mining tonnage, although a final determination of planned niobium production can be made only after work related to a mineral reserve update, additional engineering, updated project capital and operating cost estimates, and other required information is produced for publication in a new Feasibility Study.Potential New Forms of Niobium Products and Potential MarketsNioCorp's new process approach, which incorporates a chlorination step to improve niobium and titanium separation and purification, also has demonstrated NioCorp's ability to potentially produce three different niobium products: (1) ferroniobium; (2) niobium chloride; and (3) niobium oxide.NioCorp had previously planned to make ferroniobium, which is used by the steel industry to produce high-strength low-alloy steel alloys. Those alloys are used in the construction, automotive and transport, aerospace and defense, oil and gas, and other industries. Niobium is a $3.3 billion per year global market but is currently served by only three major niobium producers in two countri...