Crews are moving dirt and reshaping roads around NioCorp Developments Ltd.’s Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project as excavation of the underground mine’s main portal continues alongside a broader financing and security push at the site.
“We expect a busy fall as things are happening faster,” said Jim Sims, chief communications officer at NioCorp Developments.
Portal excavation and road work The company broke ground on the portal Feb. 26 during a site visit with U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., and local officials. Gana Trucking and Excavating, the contractor leading the dirt work, is digging a wedge-shaped opening roughly 600 feet wide and 150 feet deep to reach the limestone bedrock above the ore body. NioCorp has said the excavation will remove hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of dirt, with runoff basins built around the site to control silt.
