TSX-listed NioCorp has selected Utah-based Cementation USA as the lead engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the underground aspects of the proposed Elk Creek superalloy material project, in Nebraska.
Negotiations towards a formal EPC agreement would be initiated in the near future, NioCorp said on Friday.
NioCorp also announced that it would engage The Nordmin Group of Companies, from Ontario, to provide engineering services for the project.
The superalloy materials project entails a manufacturing facility that will produce niobium, scandium, and titanium colocated with an underground mine. Niobium is used to produce superalloys and in high strength, low alloy.
The 2017 feasibility study estimates that the project will produce an average of 7 055 t/y of ferroniobium, 103 t/y of scandium trioxide and 11 445 t/y of titanium dioxide over its 32-year operating life.
The study estimates direct capital costs of $705-million, in addition to indirect costs of $189-million, pre-production costs of $85-million, contingency costs of $109-million and pre-production net revenue credit of $79-million.
The development of the project would require significant additional capital, and the company said on Friday that any significant work on the project would be contingent on obtaining additional financing.