Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. On July 2, 2026, the Board of Directors (the "Board") of NioCorp Developments Ltd.…
NioCorp is developing the Elk Creek Project located in southeast Nebraska. The “Elk Creek Project” is a development-stage property that has disclosed niobium, scandium, and titanium reserves and resources and disclosed rare earth mineral resources. The Company is continuing technical and economic studies around the rare earths contained in the Elk Creek Project’s mineral resource in order to determine whether extraction of rare earth elements can be reasonably justified and economically viable after taking into account all relevant factors. Niobium has developing applications in the formulation of solid-state lithium-ion batteries, which may reduce charging times and increase battery safety. Niobium is used to produce various superalloys that are extensively used in high performance aircraft and jet turbines. It also is used in high-strength, low-alloy steel, a stronger steel used in automobiles, bridges, structural systems, buildings, pipelines, and other applications that generally increases strength and/or reduces weight, which can result in environmental benefits, including reduced fuel consumption and material usage and fewer air emissions. Scandium can be combined with aluminum to make high-performance alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance. Scandium also is a critical component of advanced solid oxide fuel cells, an environmentally preferred technology for high-reliability, distributed electricity generation. Titanium is a component of various
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Item 5.02Item 5.02 - Departure/Election of Directors
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of
Certain Officers.
On July 2, 2026, the Board of Directors (the "Board") of
NioCorp Developments Ltd. (the "Company"), acting on the recommendation of its Compensation and Organization Committee (the
"Compensation Committee"), ratified a series of compensation actions intended to formalize and modernize the Company's executive
officer pay program as the Company works to secure project financing and advance construction and commercial operation of its Elk Creek
Project. The Compensation Committee developed these recommendations following a multi-month review conducted with the assistance of its
independent compensation consultant, Semler Brossy. These actions included (1) the adoption of a Company-wide annual incentive program
(the “AIP”) and (2) the determination and approval of AIP awards for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 (“fiscal 2026”)
for employees of the Company and its subsidiaries, including the Company’s named executive officers.
Adoption of the AIP
The AIP is intended to operate as a Company-wide, performance-based,
annual cash incentive award program in which substantially all of the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ regular full-time employees
participate, including each of the Company’s named executive officers. Annual AIP award opportunities are established generally
by employee role and band considerations, so that annual AIP award opportunities are generally based on the scope of an employee’s
role on a consistent, Company-wide basis rather than negotiated individually. The Company adopted the AIP to help attract, motivate, and
retain employees at all levels and to align the interests of its workforce, including senior management, with the long-term interests
of the Company’s shareholders.
In general, under the AIP, each participant will have a target annual
incentive award opportunity expressed as a percentage of base salary rate, with award payouts generally ranging from 0% to 200% of target
based on performance against pre-established measures. For all eligible employees for fiscal 2026, performance was weighted: 45% on the
achievement of pre-established, Board-approved corporate milestones tied to project development, financing, permitting, and execution
readiness; 10% on safety performance, measured by reference to the presence or absence of lost-time incidents and OSHA-reportable statistics;
and 45% on individual performance against objectives established at or near the beginning of the performance period. The Board evaluates
the performance of the Chief Executive Officer, and the Chief Executive Officer evaluates the performance of the other named executive
officers. Annual incentive awards under the AIP, if any, are generally payable in cash following the end of the applicable fiscal year,
subject to the participant’s continued service through the payment date and the other terms of the AIP. For the fiscal year beginning
July 1, 2026 and subsequent years, the Compensation Committee will choose the type, mix and weighting of applicable performance measures
for AIP awards in its discretion. If the Compensation Committee determines that a change in the business, operations, corporate structure
or capital structure of the Company, or the manner in which it conducts its business (or other events or circumstances) render any AIP
performance measures or goals unsuitable, the Compensation Committee may in its discretion modify such performance measures or goals (or
actual levels of achievement), in whole or in part, as the Compensation Committee deems appropriate and equitable.
Fiscal 2026 AIP Awards
In connection with the adoption of the AIP, and generally applying
the AIP framework retroactively to the Company’s fiscal 2026 corporate milestones and individual objectives, the Compensation Committee
approved AIP award payouts for fiscal 2026 to substantially all eligible employees of the Company and its subsidiaries. The fiscal 2026
AIP award payouts represent the first awards made and settled under the Company’s formalized incentive program; no cash bonuses
were approved for or paid to the named executive officers for fiscal 2025.
The fiscal 2026 annual incentive award payouts approved for the named
executive officers are set forth below:
Named Executive Officer Title Fiscal 2026 AIP Award Payout
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Mark A. Smith Chief Executive Officer (1) $602,784
Neal S. Shah Chief Financial Officer $345,621
Scott Honan Chief Operating Officer $378,197
(1) Amounts payable in respect of Mr. Smith’s services are
paid to 76 Resources, LLC under a previously-disclosed consulting arrangement.
The fiscal 2026 AIP awards were paid, or are expected to be paid, in
cash on or about July 15, 2026. The Company expects to provide additional detail regarding the fiscal 2026 named executive officer awards
in the executive compensation disclosure included in a subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, as applicable.