NioCorp Developments Ltd (TSX:NB OTCQX:NIOBF) is to work with IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. (TSX-V:IB OTCQB:IAALD) on the development of a range of scandium-containing alloys.
Scandium is a rare transition metal that can increase the strength and malleability of more common metals such as aluminium for advanced engineering purposes such as aircraft, where it reduces weight and boosts fuel consumption.
Barely produced at the moment, Niocorp estimates demand is around 200 hundred tonnes per year compares to supply of just 10-15t.
NioCorp expects to product almost 100 tonnes per year from its Elk Creek mine in Nebraska when it comes onstream.
IBC, meanwhile, specialises in high-performance alloys used in programmes such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The two companies will collaborate both on securing a reliable and secure US. supply of scandium and encouraging its more widespread use.
Chris Huskamp, an advanced metals engineer and IBC’s president, has two patents pending for scandium-bearing aluminum alloys. Scott Honan will lead the initiative for NioCorp and also the building of its niobium/scandium/ titanium mine and processing facility in Nebraska.
“This joint development effort should deliver value both to NioCorp and IBC, and it highlights the powerful industrial logic of an upstream materials company jointly developing applications with a downstream advanced alloys producer like IBC,” said Mark Smith, Niocorp’s chief executive and executive chairman.
“NioCorp intends to establish a secure and reliable supply chain for scandium.”
For IBC, chief executive Major General David “Duncan” Heinz (USMC, ret.), added: “We intend to grow a whole new class of advanced products made here in the US from our superalloys.
“Not only will IBC products help meet a growing market demand for advanced alloys, but they also will help address some of the world’s greatest problems, such as climate change and reliance on fossil fuels.”
