NioCorp: China's Critical Minerals Leverage Over the U.S. is at Dangerous Levels

CENTENNIAL, CO / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Mark A. Smith, CEO and Executive Chairman of NioCorp Developments Ltd. ("NioCorp" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:NB)(TSX:NB) believes that China's critical minerals leverage over the U.S. is at dangerous levels and gives China the ability to quickly hobble U.S. manufacturing for many military and clean energy technologies. Mr. Smith will warn senior U.S. officials of these dangers at a high-profile conference in Washington, D.C. on March 12, 2024 and will urge that the U.S. government more aggressively encourage greater U.S. critical mineral development on a fast-track basis.

Foto: Accesswire

NioCorp's Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project will be highlighted at the event, which will be held in Washington, D.C. on March 12-13, 2024 (see https://safesummit.org/). Joining Mr. Smith in making presentations at the conference are Rita Jo Lewis, Chair of the Board of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ("EXIM"); Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy; Amos Hochstein, Senior Advisor to President Biden for Energy and Investment; senior officials from the U.S. International Development Finance and U.S. State Department; Members of Congress; and senior executives from a broad cross section of industries. The conference is expected to attract coverage by national and international news media outlets.

EXIM is currently engaged in processing an application by NioCorp for up to $800 million in debt financing for the Elk Creek Project. EXIM has advanced NioCorp's application past the first of three Transaction Review Committee reviews and is now conducting due diligence analyses of the Project.

In addition to Mr. Smith's recommendation for multi-pronged government action to support more domestic mining, he will also note that EV sales remain the fastest growing segment in the automotive industry and that "reports of the death of EVs are greatly exaggerated." According to Cox Automotive, EV sales in 2023 topped one million units in the U.S. for the first time ever, fourth quarter 2023 sales were 46% higher year-over-year, and 2024 sales are forecast to rise between 20-30 percent.

Conference presentations will not be broadcast live but recorded videos of the presentations are expected to be made available following the conference.

To learn more about NioCorp's Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project, please go here: https://www.niocorp.com

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jim Sims, Corporate Communications Officer, NioCorp Developments Ltd., [phone], [e-mail]