Power Metals Corp V.PWM

Interesting Analogue with Rare Earth Elements

[Nafets10]

A really interesting section from an opinion piece written for The National Interest which I found striking. The article is about strategic minerals in general and REE's in particular, but I think it definitely applies to the Cesium situation.

"Such is the Chinese comparative advantage in REE processing that the largest single rare earth mine in the world, the open pit at Mountain Pass, California, just southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, has been sending its raw ore to China for processing before the metal returns to the United States as finished magnets used in EVs and other applications."

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-america-can-escape-china%E2%80%99s-rare-earth-pincer-206645

Obviously, this isn't a direct analogue; I believe the historic pollucite stockpiles at Tanco are processed in Canada before the refined materials are exported to China. That being said, the situation and solutions as outlined in the article still directly apply here, and I think this is demonstrative of a rising awareness of the situation and a need to diversify the sources of raw material inputs. The fact Sinomine is looking to reactivate Tanco specifically for the Cesium speaks volumes to the accelerating use cases for the material and the need for additional reliable sources.

Reuters article from July 17, 2023 highlighting China's dominance in other strategic resources
https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/old-cold-war-tool-could-help-new-era-tension-2023-07-17/

[frewil11]

As of right now Tanco [ Chinese mine ] is processing all of the ore into Lithium from Canada and sending 100 % of it to China , if our government lets them drain the lake to get to the remaining Cesium and will surely send that also to China I will puke.

[trader53]

Its a very small amount of Cesium and I donot think there is a hope in hell Canada will approve this. All of their cesium goes right to China. There is no Cesium production anywhere in the world right now. This morning Graphite one were awarded a $37,000,000 grant from the U.S. DOD so ask yourself would they support a Cesium deposit in the same way? My guess is absolutely.