ColdDarkHole
16 hours ago
The unknown danger is the assumption that there is an entity that wants the orebody, and that the orebody is actually marketable and/or profitable--that it is actually profitably harvestable. That is unproven as far as I can tell, regardless of any mineral wealth has been proven to exist. If nobody wants to go to the trouble or expense to harvest the body, it is worthless. And if no financial entity or large wealthy miner believes in the ability of the orebody to be profitable, it is again worthless. After 7 years, this is my fear. After all the talk of "critical" minerals, bipartisan support, tactical importance, reliance on adversaries, and in light of absolute silence from financiers... this is my fear. I'm not so sure its an "asset" or "gem" anymore. 😵
NorCalTommy
16 hours ago
Well another metals conference season is upon us...... and similar to last year and the year before and the year before that...... Niocorp has a sponsor role at the conference(s) yet, utterly AMAZINGLY NB has STILL NOT declared definitively that we will be mining/processing rare earths!! (no, that is not a typo...... after 3 yrs. of equivocating and talking... we still do not have a FS and incorporation of RE's in our product set..... I wonder if some of the other mining companies who will be attending the conference(s) silently wonder if Niocorp will ever get their FS done and quantify what products and quantities they will be producing..... HOW LONG CAN THIS POSSIBLY TAKE!!???
The months and quarters and years are flying by without much to show ..... unless you consider a .16 cent share price progress.... UGH..... meanwhile the GX crew that bamboozled shareholders sits on more equity than any other shareholders in the company..... Comon' NB mgmt.... let's get this going..... if a WH administration change comes to happen,the table will be set, i.e., a much more favorable environment and understanding how critical RE/CE is for national security, thus. presumably more action than talk should ensue from the gubmint.... then you will have no excuses left.....the climate for NB flourishing will be optimal...... and if we are still not able to 'bring it to financing then production', it will be time to sell this whole Elk Creek project to another entity that can move the ball.... it is really as simple as that.....
NCT
PutzMueler
18 hours ago
Yes, it is quite a lot of fun knowing we have been lied to for more than 10 years by someone who is still sitting at the helm of this company.
And if it wasn’t for you bashing for 10 years I probably would have been out many years ago.
Thanks to Walter and LCP, the tag team Champs. Good cop, bad cop.
Both made a fortune with Mark Smith.
Yes the good ole days, when the contrarian gang of eight would roll in here with you, while all of them being invested in companies (MIN) that you and Walter were touting.
So much fun. Smells of RICO
The_Gman
3 days ago
"The U.S. has no centralized federal department or agency with the requisite mining and mineral processing expertise to assist the Executive Branch and Congress in developing coordinated mining policies responsive to the country’s mineral needs."
SME presents concept paper “Why the U.S. Needs a National Materials and Minerals Council” at Midyear Meeting
William Gleason October 7, 2024
https://me.smenet.org/webContent.cfm?context=1&webarticleid=4905
In the three decades following the U.S. Congressional vote to cease funding to the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM), the United States’ reliance on foreign sources for minerals has increased. Concurrently, the technological advancements in everything from portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, machine learning and artificial intelligence has created extraordinary global demand for a number of critical minerals.
Recognizing the need to fill the void left by the closure of the USBM in 1996, SME took the technical lead in the formation of a concept paper “Why the U.S. Needs a National Materials and Minerals Council.”
The Concept Paper is available on SME’s website https://www.smenet.org/what-we-do/technical-briefings.
In Washington, DC, Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the bills that could help further the efforts to create a centralized department or agency within the federal government to assist the Executive Branch and Congress in developing coordinated mining policies and spur the federal government to develop a national strategy to advance U.S. production of the critical minerals needed to build a clean energy economy.
The "National Critical Minerals Council Act" would establish a National Critical Minerals Council chaired by the vice president to coordinate a U.S. critical minerals strategy. That council would be led by a chief minerals adviser appointed by the president who would coordinate actions across federal agencies.
And the "Unearth Innovation Act" would establish a mining and mineral innovation program within the Department of Energy to drive research, development and commercialization of advanced mining, recycling and processing technologies.
Concept Paper:
https://smenet.blob.core.windows.net/smecms/sme/media/smeazurestorage/pdf/nmmc-concept-paper_final_09_09_24.pdf
Executive Summary
As summarized below, a group of mining technical and policy experts (Experts) participated in a May 30, 2024 roundtable discussion (Roundtable) hosted by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) at its headquarters in Englewood, CO. The discussion focused on why the federal government needs a new Executive Branch entity to provide advice and coordination on minerals and mining issues, suggested the best place for this entity within the Executive Branch, highlighted the compelling public interests in creating this new entity, and identified the following reasons for a new entity within the Executive Branch:
-The U.S. has no centralized federal department or agency with the requisite mining and mineral processing expertise to assist the Executive Branch and Congress in developing coordinated mining policies responsive to the country’s mineral needs.
- A new centralized minerals entity is urgently needed to coordinate existing federal mineral programs, which are scattered throughout several executive branch departments and agencies, to identify and fill the gaps in the country’s current mineral and mineral processing research and development (R&D) programs, and to increase domestic mining and mineral processing in order to reduce our dependency on imported minerals.
The_Gman
3 days ago
It's unclear how many have actually received the conditional funds so far. I believe the new domestic mines have been lithium related, unless they were already existing. Putz, you should know this as it was in the article you posted the other day in contrast to what I posted about Trump being the truly supportive one.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/wary-trump-us-minerals-projects-rush-close-government-loans-2024-08-29/
Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO) has awarded nearly $25 billion in conditional loans to 21 companies, including Li-Cycle (LICY.N), Lithium Americas (LAC.TO), Redwood Materials and others planning to build facilities that recycle batteries or process lithium and other minerals for use in electric vehicles. Such conditional loans still need final approval, which takes time.
MINING PROJECTS
The LPO, which gave Tesla a $465 million loan in 2010 to stave off bankruptcy, has been meticulous in its loan review process under Biden, with more than two-thirds of applicants requiring help to navigate the complex credit review process that slows down the loan approval timeline, LPO chief Jigar Shah, told Reuters last year.
For U.S. mining projects, any delay in funding could imperil plans to supply cathode and battery facilities, many of which are also in line for LPO funding.
In Nevada, ioneer is pushing to close a $700 million LPO loan for its Rhyolite Ridge lithium project, which is estimated to eclipse $1 billion in cost.
And General Motors-backed GM.N Lithium Americas has begun work on its nearly $3 billion Thacker Pass lithium project, which Trump approved five days before leaving office. The bulk of the project's funding will come from a $2.26 billion LPO loan that the company expects to close by December.
"We're pleased that our project was supported by the Trump and Biden administrations," said a spokesperson for Lithium Americas. "They both have expressed the importance of Thacker Pass in securing a domestic supply of critical minerals."
Australia-based ioneer did not respond to requests for comment.
Recycling startups Li-Cycle and Redwood are also rushing to close LPO loans. Redwood was conditionally approved for a $2 billion loan that it expected to close last year, but the company is still waiting for funding.
Li-Cycle said it continues "to work closely with the U.S. Department of Energy on key technical, financial and legal workstreams to advance towards definitive financing documentation for a loan."
Representatives for Redwood and Qcells did not respond to requests for comment.
Here's another "success" story:
Piedmont Lithium makes U-turn on multiple applications for US government funding
The company recently cancelled plans for a project that had already received approval for a $141.7m government grant. Piedmont Lithium has cancelled its application with the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) due to high costs associated with the process, the US mining company told Reuters.
https://www.power-technology.com/news/piedmont-lithium-makes-u-turn-on-multiple-applications-for-us-government-funding/
And that was a GRANT not a loan!
The_Gman
3 days ago
What is the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)?
A partnership between the USGS, State Geological Surveys, and industry to acquire new geologic maps, geophysical surveys, and LiDAR data to better understand the fundamental geologic framework of areas across the Nation with potential for hosting critical mineral resources.
Ongoing project initiated under Trump based Executive Order 13817 of December 20, 2017
A Federal Strategy To Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals
and under Interior Secretarial Order 3359
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/earth-mri/about
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AlwaysOptimistic
2 days ago
Nebraskan
2 days ago
