NioCorp Developments Ltd. signed contracts with the government of Nebraska to reduce the company's state and local tax liability by as much as US$200 million over 10 years.
The tax reduction is conditional upon the company meeting the Nebraska Advantage program's job creation and investment requirements at its Elk Creek critical minerals project site.
The company will need to invest at least US$103 million in the state and ensure creation of at least 50 new full-time manufacturing jobs with certain wage parameters, or invest at least US$10 million in the state and create at least 75 new full-time manufacturing jobs.
NioCorp said Oct. 8 that it expects to create about 436 full-time jobs, about 1,200 contract jobs during construction and invest US$7.76 billion over the 36-year project life.
An updated underground mine design for Elk Creek boosted the project's posttax net present value, discounted at 8%, 25.9% over the June 2017 feasibility study to US$2.10 billion, while the internal rate of return climbed 18.9% to 25.8%.
