Tiny but vital metal markets rush to adjust to Chinese clampdown
A bigger clampdown looks set to have far-reaching ramifications for supply chains feeding American defense and chip-making industries.
NioCorp Developments (TSX: NB) partnered with DuPont Clean Technologies (NYSE: DD) to have the latter provide its MECS sulfuric acid technology for the Superalloy Materials Project in southeast Nebraska.
Also known as the Elk Creek project, the operation is aimed at producing niobium, scandium, and titanium, all considered critical minerals by the US government.
Elk Creek is one of the few new mines to have reached the funding and construction stage in the United States
Scandium is a superalloy material that can be combined with aluminum to make alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance. It is also a component of advanced solid oxide fuel cells. Titanium, on the other hand, is used in various superalloys and is a key component of pigments used in paper, paint and plastics and is also used for aerospace applications, armor and medical implants.
At the mine site where these minerals are to be extracted, the MECS sulfuric acid plant will be designed to maximize energy recovery and emissions control.
“Emissions control is a fundamental part of what we do, so we are delighted to assist NioCorp in achieving its environmental goals,” Eli Ben-Shoshan, president of DuPont Clean Technologies, said in a media statement.
Besides DuPont, NioCorp has engaged Pennsylvania-based Veolia Water Technologies in the project.
Veolia will conduct engineering and procurement activities related to the project’s water treatment plant.
