NioCorp just landed a $10M agreement from the U.S. Department of Defense to help develop a domestic scandium supply chain through its Elk Creek project in Nebraska. CEO Mark Smith claims the mine could produce more scandium than the rest of the world combined. He praised recent U.S. policies for supporting price floors on critical minerals like scandium and niobium, aimed at reducing China's dominance by protecting domestic producers from price manipulation. The DoD support is part of a push to secure materials for defense and aerospace industries and could accelerate additional project financing, but actual production and broader impacts are still dependent on future funding and development.