Power Metals ‘breaking new ground’ in cesium
Canadian explorer Power Metals (TSX-V:PWM) reports shallow cesium hits of up to 12.72% at its flagship Case Lake Project in northeastern Ontario.
Phase-two drilling at the West Joe prospect returned intercepts of 7.9m @ 1.5% lithium, 4.05% cesium and 423 parts per million (ppm) tantalum from 19.2m, including 1m @ 0.59% lithium, 12.72% cesium and 521ppm tantalum from 22m in hole PWM-24-211.
Meanwhile, drill hole PWM-24-212 returned 7.63m at 0.75% lithium, 4.09% cesium and 249ppm tantalum from 25.5m, including 2m @ 1.08% lithium, 10.88% cesium and 371.5ppm tantalum from 29m.
Hole PWM-24-210 averaged 5.06% cesium over 3.2m, hole PWM-24-211 averaged 7.83% cesium over 3.9m and hole PWM-24-212 averaged 7.7% cesium over 4m.
Power Metals says the latest results reinforce the Case Lake Project’s potential as a strategic source of cesium and other critical elements essential to high-tech industries.
Chairman Johnathan More says as Power Metals advances into the next phase of development, the company is setting the stage for a promising year ahead and a strengthened position in the specialty metals market.
“Power Metals is breaking new ground with our high-grade cesium discoveries at Case Lake, a project that continues to exceed our expectations,” he says.
The company also recently undertook an on-site review with Chris Evans, Managing Director of Winsome Resources (ASX:WR1) and member of Power Metals recently created Cesium Advisory Committee.
The committee was formed in response to “an extreme level of interest with various major global chemical specialists”.
The Case Lake Project in Ontario hosts 14 known pegmatite bearing domes across the 10km by 9.5km property, which has been subjected to nearly 20,000m of drilling between 2017 and 2024.
Cesium is found in association with lithium and tantalum, with all three metals declared critical by the US Government, and most commercial production of cesium is as a byproduct of lithium production.
According to Power Metals, there are only three pegmatite mines globally that produce cesium and these are in Zimbabwe, Western Australia and Manitoba.
While the most common use for cesium is in drilling fluid, it is also used to make optical glass, as a catalyst promoter, in vacuum tubes, in radiation monitoring equipment and in the ‘atomic clocks’ crucial to internet and mobile phone networks.
Power Metals, which has a market capitalisation of C$62.2 million ($67.7 million), says Case Lake displays “high-grade” lithium within the Main and East zones, along with high-grade cesium in pollucite of up to 22% at West Joe.
The most recent drill results produced “strong” pollucite, spodumene, and tantalum mineralisation in holes PWM-24-210, 211, 212, and 218 with intersections of consistent “high-grade” lithium, cesium, and tantalum mineralisation.
Power Metals says these intercepts confirm the continuation of the West Joe mineralisation trend both up and down dip of previously reported drillholes PWM-18-126, 22-147, and 24-171.
The company plans to begin phase-three drilling in the current quarter.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Power Metals
