Processing improvements at NioCorp's Canadian demonstration plant have allowed the critical minerals producer to start generating titanium tetrachloride, a key intermediate in titanium sponge production.
The US-based company now plans to offer the "more valuable form" of titanium as one of its main products from its Elk Creek critical minerals project in Nebraska instead of titanium dioxide, chief operating officer Scott Honan told Argus on Tuesday.
The company began shipping samples for quality testing to prospective customers, the majority of which NioCorp described as pigment producers.
Another potential client, a US-based titanium producer, has expressed interest in possibly using the higher-purity titanium tetrachloride to reactivate domestic production of sponge "if they can find the right materials," Honan said. That market has been dormant since the latter half of 2020 when Titanium Metals (TIMET) idled its Henderson, Nevada, facility.
The US imported 28,400 metric tonnes (t) of sponge during the first nine months of 2023, with Japan accounting for 83.6pc of that total, according to Global Trade Tracker (GTT).
NioCorp's enhanced processing method resulted in an 84pc recovery rate of titanium compared to the previous process' 40pc.
Besides titanium tetrachloride, NioCorp anticipates producing ferro-niobium and scandium trioxide over Elk Creek's 38-year lifespan. Rare earth oxides also may become a commercial offering, but no economic analysis has been done yet to determine production viability.
