Grid Metals’ atomic-clock cesium resource in Manitoba ranks second globally
The world’s largest resource of the critical metal is also in Canada.
Grid Metals has announced that its Falcon West property in Manitoba, home to the Lucy South deposit, now ranks as the world's second-largest actively developed cesium resource by Western-based companies. This deposit contains 51,500 tonnes of ore grading 2.58% cesium monoxide (Cs2O) and 1.47% lithium oxide (Li2O), with a contained metal content of 1,322 tonnes of Cs2O and 756 tonnes of Li2O.
The Lucy South deposit includes a particularly high-grade pollucite zone of 15,600 tonnes grading 5.19% Cs2O and 1.76% Li2O, containing 811 tonnes of cesium oxide, making it larger than the full resource at Case Lake, Ontario.
Analysis firm ATB Cormark mining analyst MacMurray Whale stated that the high-grade zone at Lucy alone surpasses Case Lake's resource in both size and grade. Case Lake, owned by Power Metals, has an open pit inferred mineral resource of 13,000 tonnes at 2.4% Cs2O and 1.3% Li2O. Canada is home to the world's largest known cesium resource, located in Quebec at PMET Resources' Shaakichiuwaanaan project.
Grid Metals sees the Falcon West resource as a significant development for an early-stage company like itself. The company plans to conduct further exploration this winter to potentially expand the resource and justify investment in a processing facility. Cesium is a critically important rare earth metal for various applications, including oil drilling, atomic clocks, photoelectric cells, vacuum tubes, and radiation monitoring equipment.
Historically, only three primary cesium mines have operated worldwide: Tanco in Manitoba, Bikita in Zimbabwe, and Sinclair in Australia. While Sinclair's resources were exhausted in 2019, both Tanco and Bikita are nearing the end of their operational lives, with remaining production coming from tailings and remnants. Measured resources, the highest-confidence category in Canadian mineral resource reporting, classify the entire Lucy South deposit, which is shallow (about 20 meters deep on average) and could be mined using conventional open-pit methods.
The project is located near Winnipeg, close to the Trans-Canada Highway, rail infrastructure, and Manitoba's hydroelectric power grid. Grid Metals holds an 85% interest in the project, jointly operating with Agnico Eagle Mines' Avenir Minerals unit, which owns the remaining 15%. The resource is based on drilling completed between 2012 and 2026, and the pollucite zone spans approximately 120 meters by 50 meters.
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