https://www.brileysecurities.com/blog/more-than-just-mining-de-risking-the-critical-mineral-supply-chain

Rare earths and critical minerals continue to dominate geopolitical headlines, but the market conversation is rapidly shifting from where these minerals are in the ground to how they actually reach commercial viability. Moving a project from an exploration-stage discovery to a producing asset requires clearing metallurgical, capital, and geopolitical hurdles.

During B. Riley Securities' 26th Annual Institutional Investor Conference, industry leaders gathered for our Rare Earths & Critical Minerals: State of the Union. Moderated by Nick Giles (Senior Equity Research Analyst at B. Riley Securities), the discussion featured Mark A. Smith (Executive Chairman, President & CEO at NioCorp) and Trevor Anderson (Head of Business Development at Brazilian Rare Earths). The panel outlined what it truly takes to build a viable alternative to the dominant Chinese supply chain.

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Key Takeaways:

The supply chain imperative
Building a meaningful alternative to Chinese supply requires a complete domestic supply chain from extraction all the way through to magnet production. The panel was clear: without that full infrastructure in place, reducing dependence on China in any tangible way remains out of reach.

What separates viable projects from the rest
The panel emphasized that rigorous asset evaluation is critical. NioCorp's Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in Nebraska is the only development-stage U.S. project containing niobium, scandium, titanium, and rare earth elements. Brazilian Rare Earths' Monte Alto project is advancing toward a scoping study release, with a French engineering consultancy engaged to assist in designing and developing its separation facility in Brazil.

The role of government
Government support is playing a significant role in improving project viability and attracting institutional capital. The panel highlighted the Department of Defense's $110/kg floor price for neodymium-praseodymium oxide, established through the MP Materials agreement, as a meaningful signal of government commitment to domestic supply chain development. Additionally, loan authorizations and USDFC project finance involvement are helping development-stage projects advance.

Looking ahead
The panel's near-term outlook was constructive. U.S. rare earth magnet production is steadily advancing, with domestic facilities now coming online in 2026. Key financing authorizations and scoping study milestones are expected across several development-stage projects.

https://octanecdn.com/brileyfincom/2026_annual_investor_conference_handbook_6.pdf

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7477755151806590976/

https://news.umich.edu/can-north-america-mine-enough-rare-earth-elements/

"In the quest to create a robust supply chain of rare earth elements necessary for the clean energy revolution and everyday modern conveniences, North America has enough deposits of sufficient quality to begin looking in its own backyard, according to a University of Michigan study."

"Our results show that all of the deposits in North America, with the exception of the Mountain Pass mine in California that is already in operation, are of lower quality than those that are in operation in China and Australia. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be produced,” Kesler said. “The bottom line is that the deposits are close enough in quality that they might be able to support a domestic supply chain with a little government support, particularly if the prices remain high. The increased costs of mining rare earths in a supply chain of this type might be offset by savings in other parts of the processing and manufacturing stages.”

Here's the UM study - Elk Creek is included - Onshoring North American rare earth mining

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092134492600251X

"Grade and tonnage estimates for North American deposits (Table 1) show a surprisingly wide range of values that reflects two main factors. First, in earlier episodes of rare earth exploration, uncertainty about future pricing and demand [see 2011 rare earth price spike (Terazawa, 2023)] encouraged exploration of deposits that are less attractive today. Second, most rare earth deposits are also enriched in other elements. Examples in North America include Crater Lake (scandium), Echo Ridge (uranium), Elk Creek (niobium), Coastal Sand (titanium, zirconium), Kaolin Sand (kaolin), and Brook (coal). These elements can add value, sometimes to the extent that rare earths would be a by-product or co-product of the operation, but they can also complicate the formation of a rare earth mineral concentrate that is suitable for hydrometallurgical extraction of individual elements. Very little quantitative information is available on most of these additional elements."

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"Grade-tonnage relations for North American deposits (Fig. 3) confirm that Mountain Pass has a higher grade and total rare earth content (5.5% TREO, 2.36 Mt TREO) than other known North American deposits. Several other carbonatite-type deposits, including Bear Lodge, Niobec, Wicheeda, and Hoidas Lake, have grades above about 2% TREO, but only Bear Lodge has a total rare earth resource (2.7% TREO, 1.48 Mt TREO) approaching that of Mountain Pass. Other hard rock deposits with a large total rare earth resource include the Ashram, Elk Creek, and Montviel carbonatite deposits and the Halleck Creek, Nechalacho, and Strange Lake alkaline deposits."

https://connectorsupplier.com/markets/materials/

Article Contributed By Materion

Niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta) are refractory metals with a growing role across some of the most technically demanding industries in the world. From superconducting magnets and rocket propulsion to miniaturized electronics and next-generation medical implants, these metals share a number of foundational characteristics that make them attractive for advanced engineering applications.

What are niobium and tantalum?

Niobium and tantalum belong to Group 5 of the periodic table and are classified as refractory metals — a category defined by exceptionally high melting points, resistance to heat and wear, and stability under extreme conditions. They feature:

• High achievable purity levels
• Excellent resistance to corrosion, including attack by hot concentrated acids
• Good thermal conductivity paired with a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)
• Opacity to radiation, supporting shielding and barrier applications
• Excellent oxide stability at elevated temperatures
• High ductility at room temperature, which aids forming and fabrication
• Isotropic mechanical behavior

The two metals also have distinct characteristics that make each suited to different roles.

Tantalum

Tantalum is notable for its extreme corrosion resistance. It withstands attack by hot acids and liquid metals better than almost any other metal in common industrial use. With a melting point of 2,996 °C, it retains structural integrity in environments where most alloys would soften or fail. Its high density provides effective radiation shielding, and its unusually high dielectric constant allows it to store substantial electrical charge in a very compact form, making it valuable in the capacitor market and miniaturized electronics.

Niobium

Niobium shares tantalum’s general toughness but is distinguished by its superconducting behavior. Below a transition temperature of 9.2 K, niobium conducts electricity with zero resistance, making it a core material for high-field electromagnets in particle physics and medical imaging. Its alloys also exhibit strong creep resistance and retain mechanical integrity at high temperatures. Niobium-bearing materials are found in aerospace propulsion systems.

Key applications by industry

Interconnect technology

Tantalum and tantalum nitride (TaN) are the established standard for diffusion barrier layers in copper interconnect systems. When Intel introduced copper damascene wiring in the late 1990s, replacing aluminum, one of the enabling materials was tantalum — applied by physical vapor deposition (PVD) sputtering as an ultra-thin liner between the copper conductor and the surrounding low-k dielectric. Without this barrier, copper atoms migrate into the dielectric and silicon substrate over time, degrading transistor performance and causing device failure. Tantalum’s combination of electrical conductivity, adhesion to both copper and dielectric materials, and resistance to copper diffusion makes it uniquely suited to this role. Niobium and niobium nitride (NbN) are also used to form the Josephson junctions and transmission line resonators that are central to superconducting qubit architectures.

Electronics and semiconductors

More than half of annual global tantalum production goes toward capacitor manufacturing, with these components serving as mission-critical parts in avionics, guidance systems, and communications equipment. Tantalum is also deposited as a thin-film barrier layer in semiconductor fabrication, preventing diffusion between copper interconnects and surrounding dielectric materials in advanced microchip architectures.

Chemical processing

Both metals are valued in chemical plant equipment for their ability to withstand aggressive process environments that would rapidly corrode stainless steel or other common engineering alloys.

Energy and power systems

Niobium is central to the superconducting magnets that confine plasma in Tokamak fusion reactors, where it must perform reliably under intense cryogenic and electromagnetic conditions. In energy storage, niobium-based mixed oxides are being developed as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, offering faster charge rates, improved ionic conductivity, enhanced thermal safety, and longer cycle life compared to conventional graphite anodes — a potentially significant advance for electric vehicle and grid storage applications.

Medical devices and implants

Tantalum is chemically inert in the body and well-tolerated by tissue, making it suitable for a range of implantable devices. Additive manufacturing techniques now allow engineers to fabricate tantalum structures with porous geometries that closely replicate the architecture of bone.

Aerospace and defense

Niobium-based alloys are standard materials in rocket propulsion nozzles for both launch vehicles and satellites, where thermal loads and oxidizing conditions demand both high-temperature strength and dimensional stability. Tantalum is increasingly incorporated into layered shielding structures designed to protect satellite electronics in low-Earth orbit from radiation degradation.

Supply chain risks and critical mineral status

The strategic value of niobium and tantalum is complicated by the geographic concentration of their production. Brazil accounts for roughly 90 percent of global niobium output, with Canada supplying most of the remainder. Tantalum production is more fragmented but heavily weighted toward Central Africa.

This concentration creates supply risk. The absence of domestic U.S. production has led the Department of the Interior to designate both metals on the Critical Minerals List, recognizing their importance to national security and industrial competitiveness. The U.S. Energy Act of 2020 and related policy initiatives have since directed attention toward supply diversification, secondary processing capacity, and recycling infrastructure.

For industries that depend on these materials, the supply picture underscores the value of long-term sourcing relationships, inventory strategy, and engagement with alternative supply development — whether through new mining projects, recycling programs, or materials substitution research.

https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/newswire/202215-billions-flow-into-critical-minerals-as-west-races-to-reduce-supply-risk.html

>"Critical minerals have moved from a specialty corner of the commodity market to the center of industrial policy. Western governments are committing tens of billions of dollars to secure domestic supplies of rare earth elements, niobium, scandium, and other materials considered essential to defense, energy, and advanced manufacturing applications. Approximately 92% of global rare earth processing capacity currently resides in China, and the U.S. Geological Survey's Final 2025 Critical Minerals List placed niobium in its top 10 by economic risk to the U.S."

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"U.S. Niobium Peer Advances Toward Construction

>NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NASDAQ: NB), developer of the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in southeast Nebraska, reported a record cash balance of $307 million as of December 31, 2025 after raising more than $370 million during the year. The project targets niobium, scandium, titanium, and potentially rare earth elements. The company received a $10 million award from the Department of Defense under the Defense Production Act and is advancing a project financing package of nearly $800 million currently under review by the U.S. Export-Import Bank. A joint development agreement with Lockheed Martin focuses on scandium-based defense applications, including prototype aluminum-scandium components for advanced aircraft."

@ 25:08 - "So the Department of Defense, as part of the $10 million grant that you can see here on the right hand side of the slide, about $1 million of that was designated for our research into how can we convert scandium high purity oxide into scandium metal, because we cannot do that here in the US today.  And we have two customers that want to buy scandium metal today so we have done the research.

We found two technologies that we liked, we liked one better than the other, and so we’ve actually tried that and about two weeks ago, we made our first Scandium metal.  We’re waiting for the final analysis to come out on that effort, but everything looks fantastic in terms of what the scandium metal looks like and all the other parameters that we were measuring.  We do need to get the analytics yet. That would be a huge win for the United States because we do not produce any scandium metal in the United States today and this will be an environmentally acceptable way to make scandium metal as well, because  in other parts of the world where scandium metal is made, that would never be able to be permitted here in the United States, so we have a method that will be permit-able and it looks like it could be a very economic."

With delivery and tip, all-in $22.81

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https://www.chartmill.com/news/HBM/Chartmill-49872-Rare-Earth-Stocks-A-Tale-of-Two-Markets-as-Profitable-Miners-Outshine-Speculative-Plays

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The rare earth stock theme presents a noteworthy study in contrasts. While investor sentiment and relative strength are high across the sector, the fundamental reality is a sharp divide between a handful of companies generating real profits and a larger group of developers that are not yet revenue-producing. For investors, this means the theme is driven more by long-term strategic demand for critical minerals than by current financial performance. A closer look at a few key constituents reveals a nuanced landscape where selectivity is paramount.

NioCorp Developments: The Pre-Revenue Speculator

NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) is the clearest representation of the speculative side of the rare earth theme. As a pre-revenue developer focused on niobium and rare earths, its investment case rests entirely on future catalysts, such as project financing and construction milestones, rather than current financial performance.

The company has no revenue and is currently unprofitable, with a negative ROE of 12%.

It has no debt and a very strong liquidity position, with a current ratio above 31, suggesting a strong balance sheet for a development-stage company.

Despite the lack of profitability, the stock has extremely high relative strength, outperforming 90% of all stocks in the market over the past year.

For investors, NB represents a high-risk, high-reward bet. Its strong balance sheet reduces the immediate risk of dilution or distress, but its value is entirely contingent on the successful development of its Elk Creek Project. The recent massive improvement in EPS (up 109%) is a function of a prior year’s large loss, not an indication of profitability. This stock is a pure play on future project success, where investor sentiment and technical strength have far outweighed current fundamentals.