CENTENNIAL, Colo. - NioCorp, a company developing the Elk Creek Project in southeast Nebraska, is urging the United States to produce its own critical minerals and reduce dependence on China, Russia and other adversarial nations.

A NioCorp press release cities a Wall Street Journal article that says China is restricting critical minerals such as tungsten, bismuth and indium, after banning the export of other minerals last December.

NioCorp Developments CEO Mark Smith said China is showing it will not hesitate to deny access to rare earth minerals, as well.

NioCorp says its Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project would produce niobium, titanium and rare earths that would reduce foreign reliance.

In November, NioCorp posted on Facebook that it had successfully tested its hydrometallurgical process for producing critical minerals at Elk Creek for recycling commercial magnets. The company says recycling rare earth magnets could help boost U.S. production of rare earths that are currently almost entirely in Asia.