The_Gman
2日前
Benchmark Panel - Critical minerals in Defense Tech: The Hidden Backbone of Military Power June 12, 2026
https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/video/watch/critical-minerals-in-defense-tech-the-hidden-backbone-of-military-power
Stacy Newstead, Materials Strategy & Risk Manager, Lockheed Martin; Eric Shields, Senior Battery Advisor, OUSD Industrial Policy; James Trevey, CTO, Forge Nano; Mark Smith, Chairman & CEO, NioCorp; Daniel Fletcher-Manuel, Director - Indexing & Derivatives, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Assessing the US critical minerals stockpile and its role in stabilizing volatile Western prices, & the role of the government in price exchanges
It's free, but I can't access it. If anyone wants to share any insights, that'd be great!.
danieldeubank
3日前
Mark A. Smith attended he 2026 Western Mining Summit
As per Grok on the photo at the link:
Center: Mark A. Smith (Executive Chairman & CEO of NioCorp) — bald with glasses, dark suit, orange tie.
Left: Jody Dahrouge, a well-known Canadian geologist and President of Dahrouge Geological Consulting) — gray suit, purple shirt.
Right (speaking): Tate Sullivan, CFA — Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group. He frequently moderates or participates in critical minerals panels featuring Mark Smith.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/westernminingsummit-mining-criticalminerals-ugcPost-7470597355843559424-_zlQ/?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAAAcgj48BT9F7PUhNWxJ6hOp1KI16ThOcHBM
The_Gman
4日前
Rare Earth Stocks Show Resilient Long-Term Momentum Despite Broad Monthly Pullback By Mill Chart
https://www.chartmill.com/news/HBM/Chartmill-49665-Rare-Earth-Stocks-Show-Resilient-Long-Term-Momentum-Despite-Broad-Monthly-Pullback
Rare earth stocks have pulled back broadly over the past month, yet the group’s technical picture tells a more nuanced story. While near-term price action looks weak, the underlying momentum remains remarkably strong. Every stock in this theme ranks in the top 15% of all U.S. stocks by relative strength, and the aggregate one-year return for the group is well over 100%. That divergence, short-term selling pressure layered on top of powerful long-term trends, suggests the current weakness could be a consolidation phase within a longer uptrend rather than a structural breakdown. For investors, the key is to separate stocks that are simply riding the theme from those combining strong technical positioning with real business traction.
NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NB)
NioCorp is a pre-revenue developer focused on the Elk Creek niobium and rare earth project, and its investment case rests entirely on project execution and balance sheet strength rather than current profitability. Its relative strength of 88.38 is solid for a development-stage stock, and its financial health rating is a stellar 8 out of 10.
Zero debt on the balance sheet; current ratio of 31.1, indicating ample cash to fund operations.
Altman-Z score of 13.1, suggesting negligible bankruptcy risk.
EPS improved 109% year-over-year, although that is from a deeply negative base, and the company is still not generating revenue.
The lack of revenue makes traditional valuation metrics meaningless, the P/E ratio is negative and the forward P/E is even more negative. What matters here is the timeline to production and the quality of the project assets. The stock’s high relative strength suggests the market sees genuine optionality in the Elk Creek deposit, but with the shares trading near the bottom of their 52-week range and well below their 200-day moving average, the near-term technical picture offers little confirmation.
The_Gman
4日前
Floor Pricing Won’t Rebuild America’s Rare Earth Industry — It Will Break It
Opinion Jack Lifton June 10, 2026
https://investornews.com/critical-minerals-rare-earths/floor-pricing-wont-rebuild-americas-rare-earth-industry-it-will-break-it/
The United States is once again searching for a shortcut to rebuild its rare earth supply chain. This time, the idea gaining traction in Washington is government-guaranteed floor pricing for rare earth oxides — a policy intended to stabilize domestic mining, counter Chinese price suppression, and encourage upstream investment.
It is an idea that sounds bold, decisive, and patriotic. It is also profoundly misguided.
What the U.S. Should Do Instead
A serious rare earth strategy would focus on:
Guaranteed Offtake for Magnets and Metals – Not oxides. Finished components.
Defense Production Act Contracts – Tied to performance milestones, not price floors.
Accelerated Permitting for Midstream Facilities – Separation and metallization must be fast-tracked.
Tax Credits for Magnet Production – Modeled on the 45X battery credit.
Allied Integration – Japan, Korea, Australia, and the EU must be part of the solution.
Recycling and Scrap Recovery – A domestic secondary supply is essential.
These tools build capability. Floor pricing does not.
PutzMueler
4日前
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/USAR/usa-rare-earth/revenue
Yah your right, I should stop reading other companies revenue reports, because we don’t have any revenue, even though we have $500 million in the bank and we could buy any company and have way more revenue than that of USA rare earth, who is in the vicinity of $20.
Why hasn’t Mark Smith bought IBC yet? Is he waiting for higher interest rates? I hope so.
Pick USAR 3 year chart and with no revenue prior to 2026 they were never as low as we are now, on a monthly chart
https://money.tmx.com/advanced-chart/NB?chartSymbol=USAR%3AUS
Hetfield
4日前
Putz, come on, just relax a bit. When the entire RE-sector and almost all raw materials
are falling like yesterday, there’s absolutely no point in getting pissed off over analysts.
In that case, it has nothing to do with the individual companies, but rather with other factors
….expected increase in interest rates, the unnecessary war, high dollar, china, whatever.
walterc
5日前
Summary and Recommendation
Nick Giles
703-312-1815
ngiles@brileysecurities.com
Soundarya Iyer, CFA
212-271-4522
siyer@brileysecurities.com
We are initiating coverage of NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NB) with a Buy rating and a $12 price
target, implying more than 100% upside potential from current levels. NioCorp is a U.S.-based
critical minerals company advancing the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in southeastern
Nebraska, which is host to niobium, scandium, titanium, neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr),
dysprosium (Dy), and terbium (Tb). Our valuation is anchored on the view that Elk Creek is one
of the most de-risked critical minerals development projects in the U.S., yet the stock trades at
a meaningful discount to its $2.35B after-tax 2022 feasibility NPV (~0.3x P/NAV). We attribute
that discount to a market view of financing risk that is much closer to resolution than current
pricing implies. We believe there are several distinct catalysts in the near to medium term that
will support a strong re-rating in the equity: (1) an updated feasibility study that includes revised
capex estimates and rare earths economics, (2) the conversion of commercial agreements
(primarily with Traxys) from non-binding to binding, (3) continued progress with EXIM on
the pathway to $780M in debt financing, and (4) continued execution of early development
activities at site.
Key Points
• EXIM financing process remains on track. NioCorp's $780M debt application has cleared
all major EXIM review stages since 2023 and appears well-positioned to receive final board
authorization in the coming months. Alongside the EXIM facility, the company has raised
over $500M in equity since January 2025, covering the ~35% equity portion. We believe the
market still treats authorization as speculative and view this as a re-rating event that would
shift the framework from a discounted pre-production NPV to a construction-stage project
with a known capital structure and contracted revenue.
• Elk Creek to deliver ~5% of global niobium production. The project is fully permitted, sits
on private land outside NEPA and federal jurisdiction, and carries only a 2% net proceeds
royalty with no state severance tax. Metallurgy has been validated at a demonstration plant,
and mine portal construction began in February 2026. The 2022 feasibility study supports a
$2.35B after-tax NPV over a 38-year mine life, and the 36.7 Mt probable reserve is just 19%
of the 188.8 Mt indicated resource.
• Rare earths optionality. Elk Creek holds 125.8 kt of indicated neodymium-praseodymium
(NdPr), 9.1 kt of dysprosium (Dy), and 2.3 kt of terbium (Tb), one of the largest Dy and
Tb resources in the U.S. Metallurgical testing and process engineering have demonstrated
REE recoveries of 92%+. Traxys has committed to marketing 100% of planned REE output,
signaling commercial conviction ahead of a formal feasibility determination. REE economics
are expected to be included in the upcoming feasibility study, which we believe will be NPVpositive
and drive further revenue diversification.
• Highly concentrated niobium market. Brazil holds ~14 Mt of the world's 21 Mt+ in reserves
and produces 93% of global supply (85% from a single player), making it the de facto price
maker and keeping prices stable over the past five years. We view the U.S. as acutely
exposed, importing 100% of its ~10 kt requirement in 2025 (mainly HSLA steel and aerospace
superalloys) with no domestic production since 1959. The USGS identifies Elk Creek as the
only U.S. niobium mine and primary processing facility once operational. We believe this
positions the asset as a singular beneficiary of the supply-security premium that we expect
to accrue from domestically sourced critical minerals.
The_Gman
5日前
Panelists and topic - Critical minerals in Defence Tech: The Hidden Backbone of Military Power
Assessing the US critical minerals stockpile and its role in stabilizing volatile Western prices, & the role of the government in price exchanges
https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/events/giga-usa
- Stacy Newstead, Materials Strategy & Risk Manager, Lockheed Martin
- Eric Shields, Senior Battery Advisor, OUSD Industrial Policy (https://www.businessdefense.gov/)
- James Trevey, CTO, Forge Nano (https://www.forgenano.com/)
- Mark Smith, Chairman & CEO, NioCorp
- Daniel Fletcher-Manuel, Director - Indexing & Derivatives, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/)
PutzMueler
6日前
Happiness is, always knowing you will never get away from buying at the best price ever, after being invested for a 10 years tenure with Chairman and CEO Mark Smith.
Hip Hip Hoorah, for the best price in Ten years (or more!!)
Thank God, I wasn’t stupid 10 years ago and only walked away with 20 times my money, just for joining the TSX
If only we had of joined the NASDAQ back then instead. LoL
The_Gman
6日前
Detroit’s Lesson for Critical Minerals Investors: Supply Chains Cannot Be Financialized Forever Jack Lifton June 8, 2026
https://investornews.com/critical-minerals-rare-earths/detroits-lesson-for-critical-minerals-investors-supply-chains-cannot-be-financialized-forever/
For investors, however, an important conclusion emerges.
Many North American mining companies increasingly portray themselves not simply as mineral producers but as future participants in sophisticated manufacturing value chains. Their valuations often reflect assumptions based not on traditional mining economics, but on the substantially higher margins associated with advanced manufacturing.
This distinction matters.
Mining remains a cyclical, capital-intensive business characterized by volatile commodity prices and significant operational risk. Manufacturing businesses, when successful, can generate more stable margins based upon intellectual property, process control, and customer qualification.
The path from mineral deposit to qualified manufacturing supplier is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Discovering a deposit is only the beginning. Building a competitive business requires technical expertise, operational excellence, customer qualification, and the ability to execute consistently over decades.
Detroit’s experience demonstrates that supply chains evolve over time and require continuous operational discipline. Financial structures may facilitate industrial development, but they cannot substitute for technical expertise, manufacturing capability, and proven execution.
Critical minerals are essential to modern economies. However, investors should distinguish carefully between companies with credible strategies for moving downstream and those relying primarily on promotional narratives that assume manufacturing margins can be achieved simply by owning mineral resources.
Sounds like a good argument to buy NioCorp!
The_Gman
6日前
Greenland Mines Lands a Site Team at Sarfartoq Within Days of Signing, Setting Up a 2026 Rare Earth Field Program
https://www.baystreet.ca/stockstowatch/23429/Greenland-Mines-Lands-a-Site-Team-at-Sarfartoq-Within-Days-of-Signing-Setting-Up-a-2026-Rare-Earth-Field-Program
Companies mentioned:
• Greenland Mines Ltd (Nasdaq: GRML)
• MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP)
• Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU)
• Critical Metals Corp. (NASDAQ: CRML)
• NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NASDAQ: NB)
Rounding out the group, NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NASDAQ: NB) is advancing its Elk Creek critical minerals project in Nebraska, targeting niobium, scandium, titanium and rare earths — a reminder that niobium, flagged as a potential Sarfartoq by-product, sits within the same critical-minerals demand story. Collectively, the peer set underscores how much capital and policy attention is flowing toward non-Chinese sources of magnet metals, the category into which Sarfartoq squarely falls.