Key Highlights

● NioCorp reported a fiscal 2026 net loss of $48.6 million, nearly triple the $17.4 million loss a year earlier, tied to accelerating development spending at Elk Creek.

● The company raised approximately $467.2 million in net proceeds through registered offerings of common shares and pre-funded warrants during fiscal 2026.

● Construction began in February 2026 on the Elk Creek Portal Project, budgeted at $44.6 million, with $5.6 million spent through June 30, 2026.

● NioCorp's estimated upfront Capital Expenditure for the full Elk Creek Project has grown to approximately $1.849 billion, up from a prior estimate of $1.141 billion, due to a processing circuit redesign and cost inflation.

NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) reported a net loss of $48.6 million for fiscal 2026 in its annual report, nearly triple the $17.4 million loss it posted a year earlier, even as the company raised roughly $467.2 million in Equity Financing and began construction on the Portal Project at its Elk Creek critical minerals site in Nebraska in February 2026. The 10-K, covering the year ended June 30, 2026, ties the wider loss to development-stage spending as the project advances toward construction.

A Bigger Loss, a Bigger War Chest

NioCorp's filing attributes the increased net loss largely to accelerating activity at Elk Creek as the company moves from planning into construction, though it does not break out every line item behind the jump from $17.4 million to $48.6 million. Offsetting that loss is a substantially strengthened balance sheet: the company says it raised approximately $467.2 million in net proceeds during fiscal 2026 through registered offerings of common shares and pre-funded warrants. NioCorp says it plans to deploy $65 million to $75 million of that capital over the next twelve months on continued project development and corporate operations.

Portal Construction Underway

The centerpiece of the year's operational news is the February 2026 start of construction on the Elk Creek Portal Project, the underground access point that the 10-K describes as serving as "the primary access point for personnel, equipment, and materials, as well as to deliver ore" to surface processing facilities. NioCorp budgeted $44.6 million for the Portal Project and had spent $5.6 million on it through June 30, 2026, putting the work in its early stages as of the filing date.

What Elk Creek Is Meant to Produce

Located near Elk Creek, Nebraska, the project is designed as a multi-mineral operation targeting niobium, used in aerospace superalloys and high-strength steel; scandium, used in aluminum alloys and fuel cells; titanium, used in aerospace components and pigments; and several rare earth elements, including neodymium-praseodymium oxide, dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide. NioCorp has long marketed Elk Creek as a rare domestic source for materials the U.S. government and manufacturers consider critical to defense, energy and industrial Supply chains, though the filing does not include independent verification of that framing beyond the company's own description.

Rising Costs, Financing Still Being Arranged

The 10-K discloses that NioCorp's estimated upfront capital expenditure for building out the full Elk Creek Project has grown to approximately $1.849 billion, up from a prior estimate of $1.141 billion, which the company attributes to a redesign of its processing circuit and general cost inflation. To help fund that larger bill, NioCorp says it continues to pursue potential financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, in addition to the equity it has already raised, while detailed engineering work continues in parallel with the Portal construction.

Still a Pre-Production Company

NioCorp has not generated any Revenue from Mining operations, and the widened net loss described in the 10-K is consistent with a company whose spending is shifting from early-stage planning to construction and engineering activity. The company's shares trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker NB, and Elk Creek is described in the filing as one of very few prospective domestic sources of niobium and scandium, minerals for which the United States otherwise relies heavily on imports. The filing does not disclose a target date for first production, tying the project's timeline instead to completion of the Portal Project and the subsequent phases of construction that the newly raised equity capital is meant to fund.

Construction and Financing Milestones Ahead

Investors should watch progress and any cost updates on the $44.6 million Portal Project as construction continues past June 2026, along with whether NioCorp secures Export-Import Bank financing to help cover the $1.849 billion capital estimate. How the company deploys the $65-75 million it plans to spend over the next twelve months, and future 10-Q and 10-K disclosures detailing the drivers behind the widened net loss, are additional points worth tracking.