FILE -NioCorp Developments CEO Mark Smith talks to a group of investors during a tour on Oct. 6, 2021, about the prospects for a proposed mine the company hopes to build near Elk Creek in southeast Nebraska, to extract critical minerals NioCorp Developments, the mining company that wants to extract a rare heat-resistant element from the ground under southeast Nebraska says a new report shows the deposit it plans to mine holds a significant amount of other rare elements, Thursday, May 19, 2022..(AP Photo/Josh Funk, File)
