US Secretary of Energy Tours Elk Creek Mine; NioCorp Reaches Agreement with Traxys to Purchase Mine Products

The site of the Elk Creek critical minerals mine was busy on Wednesday, October 14, 2026 even though the workers had the day off. Many dignitaries were present to tour the mine site including U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright from Washington, D.C. Also in attendance were Governor Jim Pillen; U.S. Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts; Representative Adrian Smith; President and Chairman of the Board John Jovanovic from the Export Import Bank of the United States, which is providing debt financing for up to 65% of the Elk Creek mine project; State Senator Bob Hallstrom; Mark Kristoff, CEO of Traxys; and many others who have been important to the development of the critical minerals project.
In one way or another, all of the speakers reiterated the importance of establishing a domestic supply of the critical minerals and rare earth materials existing at the Elk Creek mine site. Currently, the U.S. imports 100% of its niobium and scandium and 85% of its titanium and the supply of those minerals and the rare earths is mainly in China, an adversary of the U.S.
Governor Pillen said, “It’s important that we fix the energy crisis in this country... We have to get the supply chain secure and this is a big step toward that.
Senior Senator Fischer added, “This is a big deal for our state but it is a huge deal for our country. We rely on these minerals to power our lives, yet we continue to rely on foreign countries for our supply. That is not good, it creates vulnerability. We are working to bring production back to the U.S.”
“The best way to secure safety is to be strong,” said Senator Ricketts. “We live in a dangerous world. It is extremely important to establish secure supply lines and processing in the U.S. It will be great for Johnson County’s economy as well as the state’s.”
“It’s exciting to see this project come to fruition,” said Congressman Smith, who at the groundbreaking ceremony took the first scoop of dirt with the excavator. “Expanding the tax base is important to the economy.”
U.S. Secretary of Energy Wright said, “When China’s regime decided to change the way they supplied us [with critical minerals], we could apply and maybe they’d supply us and maybe not. [Critical minerals] were all outsourced. The President said, ‘How did this happen?’ We have to fix this. We can’t just talk about it, write a few papers and hand it off to the next administration. We have to act. This is our national security that’s underground here.”
Export Import Bank’s President Jovanovic urged, “Make America a stronger, safer, more prosperous place. All we want is to level the playing field for America’s capable, innovative engineers. Think about the people this impacts in the future.”
Traxys Announcement
An announcement from NioCorp released October 13, 2026 said:
NioCorp Developments Ltd. (“NioCorp,” “our,” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:NB), a leading U.S. developer of critical minerals, has reached a definitive agreement (the “Agreement”) with Traxys North America LLC (“Traxys”), a leading global trader and merchant in the metals and natural resources sectors, resulting in 100% of the Company’s planned production from its Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project (the “Elk Creek Project”) now being supported by commercial agreements during the first 15 years of operations.
Under the binding Agreement, Traxys will purchase, on a take-or-pay basis, 50% of NioCorp’s planned ferroniobium production from its Elk Creek Project over the first 15 years of production. The Agreement supersedes and replaces the prior ferroniobium and scandium offtake arrangements between NioCorp and Traxys. NioCorp’s existing offtake agreement with ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products GmbH (“ThyssenKrupp”) covering the other 50% of NioCorp’s planned ferroniobium production from its Elk Creek Project over the first 10 years of production remains unchanged.
“We’ve always believed the right commercial partner is just as important as the products themselves,” said Mark A. Smith, CEO and Executive Chairman of NioCorp. “Members of our management team have worked with the Traxys team for several decades, and they’ve built an outstanding reputation in these markets. They understand these products, they understand the customers, and we’ve developed a high level of confidence in their team over many years. Expanding that relationship was a logical next step for us.”
“Together with our existing ferroniobium offtake agreement, every product we plan to produce at Elk Creek is now supported by long-term commercial agreements for 15 years of operations with highly reputable commercial partners,” Mr. Smith said. “That puts us in an even stronger position as we advance our remaining financing efforts, including addressing one of the key due diligence items in EXIM’s review of our proposed financing package. Just as importantly, it shows there are experienced market participants willing to commit to the products we expect to bring to market.”
The Agreement is binding on the parties. Deliveries under the Agreement remain subject to completion of project financing, construction of the Elk Creek Project, commencement of commercial production, and the finalization of customary ancillary commercial terms between the parties.