Cesium and rubidium industry resources and market analysis

Cesium and rubidium industry resources and market analysis 

Basic properties and industrial chain of cesium and rubidium

Cesium, with the symbol Cs, has an atomic number of 55, a density of 1.88g/cm³, a melting point of 28.4℃, and a boiling point of 678.4℃.Cesium metal is a light golden yellow, very soft, and ductile.

Cesium is extremely reactive chemically, and its compounds mainly include cesium carbonate, cesium formate, cesium bromide, cesium chloride, cesium fluoride, cesium iodide, cesium hydroxide, cesium nitrate, cesium oxide, cesium sulfate, cesium alum, and so on.

In terms of downstream applications, as a rare mineral, cesium metal and cesium salts are irreplaceable in many industries, with their main applications in atomic clocks, energy, chemical engineering, medical treatment, etc.

Rubidium, with the symbol Rb, has an atomic number of 37, a density of 1.53g/cm3, a melting point of 38.89℃, and a boiling point of 688℃.Metal rubidium is silver-white, waxy, soft and light, and has ductility.

The compounds of rubidium used in industry mainly include rubidium oxide (Rb2O, RbO2, Rb2O2, etc.), rubidium hydroxide, rubidium carbonate, rubidium sulfate, and rubidium nitrate.

Due to the similar physical properties and atomic radii of rubidium and cesium, their downstream applications are similar and can be used interchangeably in many applications.

However, due to the stronger positive electrical properties of cesium compared to rubidium, and the fact that rubidium does not have independent deposits and is usually a by-product of the production of lithium and cesium, it is not easier to obtain than cesium, making cesium more widely used than rubidium in various fields.

Global cesium resources are scarce and highly concentrated

Cesium does not exist in the form of simple substance in nature, and is mainly distributed in the form of salt in the land and ocean, with a small amount of ore reserves worldwide.

Cesium has an independent mineral, pollucite, with a Cs2O content of 5% to 32%, which is the main raw material for extracting cesium.

According to the data of USGS, the global reserves of pegmatite-type cesium mineral resources in 2020 were 217,100 tons, including 120,000 tons in Canada, 60,000 tons in Zimbabwe, 30,000 tons in Namibia, and 7,100 tons in Australia.

The global cesium resources are very scarce, and the currently available large-scale mining of pollucite resources is mainly concentrated in three major mining areas:

Tanco mining area in Canada, Bikita mining area in Zimbabwe and Sinclair mining area in Australia.

Due to the roof fall of Tanco Mine from 2010 to 2013, the operation was suspended and the collapse area was repaired from 2017 to 2018. Therefore, USGS did not include the retained cesium resources in the Tanco mining area in the statistics from 2016 to 2019.

After the 100% acquisition of the Special Fluids Division of the US CABOT Company and its affiliated Tanco Mine by China Mineral Resources Group Co., Ltd. in June 2019, the USGS added data on the Canadian-owned pegmatite Cs-bearing Cs resources in 2020. The newly added Canadian-owned 120,000 tons of Cs oxide resources are all from the Tanco Mine.

There is no independent mineral of rubidium resources, which is mainly a by-product of lithium and cesium

More than 90% of the total reserves of rubidium resources exist in salt lakes, but they are usually in trace concentrations (about 0-20mg/L), which limits their development and utilization value.

At present, most of the rubidium is extracted from granite pegmatite, and the carrier minerals are mainly lepidolite, ferrolithic lepidolite, pollucite and potassium feldspar.

Although rubidium has a higher earth abundance than lithium and cesium, it is difficult to extract due to the lack of rubidium-rich minerals, and it is mainly produced as a by-product of the processing of cesium and lithium.

The global rubidium resources are mainly concentrated in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Canada.

According to the data of USGS, the global reserves of rubidium resources in 2020 were 102,000 tons, including 50,000 tons in Namibia, 30,000 tons in Zimbabwe, 12,000 tons in Canada, and 10,000 tons in other countries. The concentration of resources is high.

The global consumption of rubidium is relatively small, and the consumption has remained at 10-12 tons in recent years.

The United States is the first country in the world to produce and apply rubidium, and in 2018, it was included in the list of 35 key minerals.In the United States, 80% of the application of rubidium is used for developing high-tech, 20% is used in special glass, catalysts and other fields, and the annual consumption is 5-6 tons.

Japan is the country with the fastest development of rubidium production and application in the world in the past 20 years. In July 2009, Japan issued the "Rare Metal Security Strategy", which made rubidium a strategic mineral. The fastest growing area of rubidium application is catalyst, especially organic synthesis catalyst. Currently, the annual consumption of rubidium is 1-2 tons.

China has no independent cesium and rubidium resources for mining

The production of domestic rubidium and cesium resources is mainly based on the development of solid minerals. Rubidium mainly exists in the form of associated minerals, mainly from lepidolite, and cesium resources are mainly distributed in the Altay region of Xinjiang and Yichun of Jiangxi.

Among them, the newly developed Keketuohai mining area in Xinjiang, with a Cs2O content of about 18%-25% in the pollucite concentrate and a Rb2O content of 0.9% in the lepidolite, is an important domestic producer of rubidium and cesium.

Since the closure of the Keketuohai No. 3 mine, there have been no reports of independent cesium garnet mines available for mining in China. Currently, the cesium raw materials required in China are mainly imported from abroad.

The total amount of hard rock-type cesium reserves discovered in major mining areas in China is 61,800 tons, but most of them are difficult to process and associated with lithium mica, which does not have independent development and utilization value. Generally, cesium and rubidium are extracted from the tailings after extracting lithium from lithium mica.

Under the current technological and economic conditions, the associated rubidium and cesium resources present in the salt lake brine do not possess independent value for development and utilization.

Currently, the available and economically exploitable cesium resources are all derived from the pegmatite-hosted pollucite-type cesium mineral resources.

At present, the reserve of Rb2O in China is about 184,000 tons, and the basic reserve is about 311,000 tons.

The proven resource quantity is about 1.958 million tons, including about 1.904 million tons of hard rock type Rb2O, accounting for 97% of the national Rb2O resource quantity.

According to the occurrence state of rubidium in China, rubidium ore can be divided into mica-type rubidium ore resources occurring in mica and feldspar-type rubidium ore resources occurring in feldspar.

Lepidolite and ilmenolite are widely distributed in Jiangxi, Hunan, and Henan provinces;Feldspar is mainly distributed in Xinjiang and Shanxi provinces;Cesium garnets are mainly distributed in Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Hunan and other provinces.

Environmental protection and emerging technology fields are the core driving force for cesium and rubidium consumption

The largest application field of cesium and rubidium is oil and gas drilling. As a drilling/completion fluid, cesium formate has the advantages of high temperature resistance, high efficiency, and environmental friendliness in the high-temperature and high-pressure oil and gas drilling process. Due to its high price, the current application is mainly concentrated in Europe. However, with the increasing emphasis on environmental protection in China and the exploration field moving towards deep water, the demand for cesium formate in China's oil and gas drilling field will become a huge growth point for the demand for cesium and rubidium in the future.

In addition to oil and gas drilling, the most widely used application is catalyst. The use of cesium sulfate as a catalyst in the production of sulfuric acid can significantly reduce SO2 emissions, thereby reducing subsequent tail gas treatment costs. As China's sulfuric acid production increases and environmental protection requirements become increasingly stringent, the market prospect for cesium sulfate is promising in the future.

In addition, with the advent of the 5G era and the country's emphasis on technological development, high-tech fields such as atomic clocks, magnetic fluid generators, and ion thrusters will also become growth points for the demand for cesium and rubidium.

Due to the scarcity of pollucite resources and high technical barriers in the industry, only Dongpeng New Materials, Cabot Corporation and Alcoa can achieve mass production of cesium and rubidium salts worldwide.

Due to the lack of independent ore, the average price of rubidium products is 5-6 times that of cesium products, and the main application areas of the two are similar, so the competitiveness of cesium products is much higher than that of rubidium products.

Due to the high technical barriers and high concentration of suppliers in the rubidium and cesium salt market, suppliers have strong bargaining power, and the prices of major cesium salt products are generally stable and rising in 2020.

The three major cesium garnet mines in the world

Tanco Mine in Canada

Equity structure:

The mining rights of the Tanco Mine belong to Canadian Tantalum Corporation (Tanco for short), and China Mineral Resources holds 100% of the equity of Tanco.

Mine introduction:

The Tanco mine is located 160 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on the northwest shore of Lake Bonney. It is a typical lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite deposit rich in rare metal elements such as lithium, cesium, rubidium, tantalum, beryllium, and gallium.The Tanco mine is currently the largest discovered cesium garnet mine, with 80% of the global cesium garnet resource reserves and an average cesium oxide grade of 23.3%.

The Tanco mine has an unmined cesium ore resource of 117,200 tons, of which the cesium oxide content is 16,200 tons;The cesium tailings ore resource is about 3.5222 million tons, of which the cesium oxide content is about 26,000 tons, and the total cesium oxide resource of Tanco Mine is 42,200 tons.

Mine history:

Between 2010 and 2013, the No. 14 pillar in the Tanco mining area experienced two roof collapses, leading to the temporary halt of operations at the mine.

From August 2017 to July 2018, Cabot completed the restoration of the collapse area under the supervision of the Geological and Mining Review Board (GMRB) in Canada, and then continued to mine.

In 2019, China Minmetals Resources acquired Cabot Specialty Fluids Division, thus achieving 100% control of the Tanco mine.

Bikita Mine in Zimbabwe

Equity structure:

African Minerals holds 55.4% of the shares, while Mavhaire holds 16%

Mine introduction:

The Bikita mine in Zimbabwe is a world-renowned lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) multi-rare metal mine, and is also one of the world's major mines for mining pollucite.

Since its discovery in 1911, a large amount of lithium, cesium, tantalum and other minerals have been produced. The ore-bearing pegmatite is about 3 kilometers long and 150-180 meters wide. A total of 2.6 million tons of lepidolite (Li2O 4.13%) have been discovered, including 3.73% rubidium in lepidolite, 2 million tons of spodumene (Li2O 1.7%), and 100,000-150,000 tons of pollucite (Cs2O 24%).The pegmatite also exhibits strong zoning characteristics.

However, after decades of development, its cesium garnet-type ore resources have been basically exhausted.

Sinclair Mine in Australia

Equity structure: Pioneer holds 100% of the shares.

Sinclair Mine is located 35 kilometers north of Norseman in Western Australia. It was discovered by Pioneer Resources Limited in 2016 and is the first cesium garnet deposit discovered in Australia. It is also one of the three largest cesium garnet deposits that can be mined on a large scale in the world after Tanco Mine and Bikita Mine.

From 2016 to 2019, the Sinclair Mine has completed the first phase of mining operations.

During the first stage of mining and exploration, when the pollucite ore part of the polymetallic deposit has not yet been reached, a total of 7,110 tons of ore resources were obtained, with a cesium oxide grade of 16.4% and including 1,166 tons of cesium oxide.

Currently, the Sinclair Mine is undergoing the second phase of mining and exploration.

Phase 1:

Pioneer Company discovered pollucite during a prospecting activity from August to October 2016. Mining began in September 2018 and the first phase of mining and exploration work was completed in January 2019. The mine resource and sales situation for this phase are shown in the table below.

The cash operating surplus in the first stage was $10.2 million, which means that the average profit of cesium oxide was $6,576 per ton, or the average profit of ore (with a cesium oxide grade of 8.3%) was $547 per ton.

The stripping ratio of the first stage of pollucite ore is close to 70:1.After the completion of the first phase of mining, the Sinclair mine was proven to have the potential for the second phase of mining.

Phase 2:

During the first stage of prospecting activities, it was discovered that there were resources of pollucite extending at least 80 meters north of the pit. Therefore, Xianfeng Company set the second stage of exploration objectives, which was to obtain 1000-2000 tons of ore resources with a cesium oxide grade of 8%-14%.

Application of cesium and rubidium: mainly for oil and gas drilling, opening up new demands in the field of science and technology

Oil and gas drilling

Cesium formate is the only cesium salt that can be produced industrially worldwide, and it also has the highest proportion of downstream demand for cesium salts in the world. It is mainly used as a petroleum completion fluid to prevent drill bit dissolution during deep well mining.

After being developed in 1922, cesium formate was left idle for more than 70 years until 1995, when Europeans conducted research on its application in deep-sea drilling and experimented with it in the North Sea oil field.

In 1999, Shell applied cesium formate brine as a perforating fluid in the Shearwater oil field. In 2001, cesium formate was used as a drilling fluid in the Huldra gas field, opening the way for its application in the field of oil and gas drilling.

Over the past decade, cesium formate solution has been successfully used in more than 100 wells as drilling fluid, completion fluid, workover fluid, and suspension.

Compared with traditional solid drilling fluid, cesium formate has obvious advantages:

1) Solid-phase drilling fluid is affected by high temperatures and undergoes bentonite gelation, which can easily form thick filter cakes. Solid-free high-density drilling and completion fluids such as cesium formate do not;

2) The performance of the additive can be maintained at high temperatures;

3) The solubility of natural gas is low, making it easy to detect well kick and implement well control measures in a timely manner;

4) The low equivalent density reduces the resistance of the fluid flow, providing good lubrication performance and reducing the failure rate of drill jamming;

5) It can be biodegraded and has little impact on the environment.

The amount of cesium formate used in oil and gas drilling: about 500 tons of cesium formate is needed for a deep well.

The high price of cesium limits the application of cesium formate drilling fluid and completion fluid. In order to maximize the economic benefits of cesium formate drilling fluid and completion fluid, cesium formate needs to be recycled.

The recovery of cesium formate drilling fluid is divided into five steps: screening, centrifugation, chemical treatment, gravity sedimentation, and storage.The recovery and reuse rate of cesium formate drilling fluid and completion fluid can reach 80%, and the performance of the recovered base fluid does not change.

Due to cost and process reasons, cesium formate is currently used less in the domestic oil and gas field.

In the field of ultra-high temperature and high pressure drilling and completion, as China's exploration field moves towards deep water and deep layers, the ultra-high temperature and high pressure environment may become the norm for deep oil and gas exploration and development in the future. Geological conditions such as temperatures above 200℃, pressure coefficients above 2.30, and narrow safety windows cannot be avoided.

In addition, with the increasing attention to the environment in China and the gradual strengthening of environmental protection policies, the application of cesium formate in the domestic oil and gas industry will gradually expand.

In October 2021, CNOOC Research Institute Co., Ltd. released a report on the technical feasibility assessment and key technology research of ultra-high temperature and high pressure gas fields in the Yingqiong Basin of the South China Sea. It proposed the use of cesium formate completion fluid, indicating that China's oil and gas companies will gradually expand the application of cesium formate.

catalyzer

Most cesium salts in China and Japan are used as catalysts, with Japan accounting for 90% of the consumption in the field of catalysts. Organic synthesis catalysts have been the main growth point in recent years, and some of the products produced in China are also exported to Japan.

In cesium salts, cesium sulfate is used as a cesium alum catalyst, and it is also used as a catalyst in the production of ethylene oxide;Cesium nitrate is used as a petrochemical co-catalyst in the production of methacrylic resin;Cesium fluoride can be used as a catalyst for fluorine-containing resin and a welding flux;Cesium chloride can be used as a pharmaceutical catalyst and is also a raw material for the production of metallic cesium.

Cesium sulfate is the most promising cesium salt catalyst, suitable for industrial sulfuric acid production.

The vanadium catalyst is currently widely used in the domestic sulfuric acid industry, but the ignition temperature is relatively high, resulting in high SO2 concentration in the tail gas emissions;The low ignition temperature of cesium sulfate can reduce the operating temperature and the heat exchange area of the conversion section, reduce SO2 tail gas emissions, and thereby reduce the cost of subsequent treatment of waste gas.

The global annual production of cesium sulfate catalyst is about 300 tons/year, including 100-150 tons/year from Denmark's Topsoe, 100-150 tons/year from the United States' Dupont, and 25-50 tons/year from Germany's BASF.

In 2020, China's sulfuric acid production was 98.59 million tons, and the amount of catalyst used was about 20,100 tons;Among them, low-temperature catalysts account for about 1/5, or 4026.06 tons;The proportion of cesium sulfate in the cesium aluminium low-temperature catalyst is about 8%, that is, if the low-temperature catalyst is entirely used cesium aluminium catalyst, the production of sulfuric acid in China in 2020 can consume 322.09 tons of cesium sulfate.

However, the current production of cesium sulfate in the Chinese market is only 5-10 tons/year, indicating that there is a large potential market for cesium sulfate in China.

The traditional vanadium catalyst is still widely used in China's sulfuric acid industry. With the strict national environmental protection requirements and the progress of industrial greening, the market for cesium sulfate catalyst is very promising.

If only the addition of cesium sulfate as the main component in the catalyst is required to be above 95%, and no requirements are made for the content of other impurities, the cost of cesium catalyst can be reduced by 50,000 yuan/ton, which is economically beneficial.The research and development of cesium sulfate in China is still in its early stages, with limited domestic production and a significant portion of demand reliant on imports.

atomic clock

To determine the distance between the spacecraft and the Earth, the navigator sends signals to the spacecraft. Since the signals are relayed at a known speed of light, the distance can be calculated by measuring the time it takes for the signals to travel back and forth. By sending multiple signals and making multiple measurements, the trajectory of the spacecraft can be calculated.

Most modern clocks use quartz oscillators to time, but quartz clocks are not stable, and after one hour, the quartz oscillator will deviate by at least 1 nanosecond;After six weeks, there may be a deviation of 1 millisecond, which is equivalent to a distance deviation of 300 kilometers, which has a significant impact on measuring the position of fast-moving spacecraft.

Atomic clocks combine quartz crystal oscillators with atomic ensembles to achieve higher stability.NASA's deep space atomic clock deviates by less than 1 nanosecond after four days, less than 1 microsecond after ten years, and less than 1 second every 20 million years.

With the advent of the 5th generation mobile technology (5G), the demand for atomic clocks will increase with the increase in the number of base stations.According to Greenpeace's prediction, the number of 5G base stations in China will maintain a compound annual growth rate of 63.6% during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and will reach 8 million stations by 2025.

Although the amount of rubidium and cesium used in each atomic clock is only in the gram range, due to the large number of base stations and the application of atomic clocks in many fields, the demand for rubidium and cesium in atomic clocks will become one of the growth points for downstream demand for rubidium and cesium in the future.

magnetohydrodynamic generator

Using cesium-containing rubidium and its compounds as the power generation material (conductor) for magnetic fluid generators can achieve high thermal efficiency.The most studied magnetic fluid power generation is open-loop magnetic fluid power generation device, in which cesium and rubidium salts in the gas are ionized at high temperatures to release electrons, generating direct current through a strong magnetic field. The gas then enters the steam power generation system for secondary power generation.

The total thermal efficiency of a typical nuclear power plant is 29% to 32%, but combining magnetic fluid power generation can increase the total thermal efficiency of the nuclear power plant to 55% to 66%.

Due to the lower ionization potential of cesium, cesium carbonate is commonly used in magnetic fluid generators.

The United States, Japan and other countries have included magnetic fluid generators in their national plans and given long-term support. China is also actively committed to research in this area, but due to technical problems, there is currently no magnetic fluid power station in China.

For a 600,000-kilowatt magnetohydrodynamic power station, the initial input of cesium carbonate (rubidium) is approximately 454 tons, and approximately 3,175 tons of cesium carbonate (rubidium) are required annually.

It can be seen that if more practical results can be achieved in the future, the prospects for cesium and rubidium salts in magnetic fluid generators will be relatively broad.

ion thruster

The core goals of the development of the aerospace transportation field include improving the carrying capacity, reducing the launch cost and shortening the launch preparation time.

Traditional rockets propel forward by ejecting high-speed gas from the tail, and ion thrusters also use the same jet principle, but instead of using fuel combustion to emit hot gases, they use electrical energy to stimulate high-speed ions to flow backward for propulsion.

It ejects a beam of charged particles or ions, which may provide relatively weak propulsion, but requires much less fuel than ordinary rockets.

As long as the ion propulsion system can maintain stable performance over a long period of time, it will eventually be able to accelerate the spacecraft to higher speeds.Ion thrusters are widely used in satellites, spacecraft and other fields.

The thrust generated by using 1kg cesium in outer space is 1100 times greater than any other fuel, and its range is about 150 times that of today's solid or liquid fuel.

Ion propulsion engines (10%-15% lighter than conventional engines) are known as the metal of the "space age".

So far, there are about 200 earth orbit satellites and deep space probes in the world, and nearly 500 electric propulsion systems have been used. The development of electric propulsion technology is in the ascendant. In the future, the number of satellites using cesium-rubidium ion propulsion will increase, and the demand for cesium-rubidium in this field will increase significantly.

Other fields

Drug therapy:

Rubidium iodide (RbI) was used to treat syphilis in 1888, and can also be used as a substitute for potassium iodide (KI) to treat goiter caused by iodine deficiency, as an anti-shock drug after arsenic poisoning, and as an ingredient in eye drops.

In 1888, rubidium bromide was used as an antiepileptic drug in clinical practice.

Rubidium and cesium are widely used in mental health and have a good effect on anti-depression.Rubidium chloride can be used as an anti-manic and mood stabilizer drug to improve the function of central monoamine transmitters or reduce receptor sensitivity, thereby achieving therapeutic purposes.

In addition, rubidium can also improve the motor dysfunction in patients with Parkinson's disease, as well as the motor retardation and emotional apathy in patients with schizophrenia.Animal experiments have shown that rubidium chloride can alleviate the inhibition of ethanol on the central nervous system and other symptoms of ethanol intoxication. Therefore, rubidium may have a therapeutic effect on alcohol-induced mental disorders.

Rubidium has similar biochemical characteristics to potassium, so it can stimulate some physiological effects mediated by potassium.Rubidium can also affect the production of intermediate metabolites required for the synthesis of certain neurotransmitters.

Detector: Cesium iodide (CsI) is currently the main scintillation material for detectors.

After the scintillator or phosphor layer is exposed to X-rays, the X-ray photons are converted into visible light, which is then converted into electrical image signals by an amorphous silicon layer with a photodiode effect, resulting in the acquisition of digital images.

Sodium-activated cesium iodide crystals can be used in X-ray image intensifier tubes, and X-ray machines with intensifier tubes have high resolution, high intensity, high stability, and low light scattering.

Thallium-activated cesium iodide single crystals are used in scintillation counters and are widely used in safety detectors, metal flaw detectors, metal detectors, deep-well detection probes, etc. in ports, docks, and stations.

Cesium iodide crystals are widely used as photosensitive elements in CCDs for digital imaging.

CsI:Tl crystals have been used in CLEO 11 of CESR and C. of LEARIn detectors such as Barrel, BaBar at SLAC, and BELLE at KEK, there are nearly 40,000 bars, weighing approximately 5 tons.

In the upgrade and reconstruction of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) in China, CsI:Tl crystals were also selected, with a quantity of about 8,000 and a weight of about 3 tons.

When constructing the new BESIII detector, the spectrometer also proposed the use of CsI crystal electromagnetic calorimeters to improve the energy resolution and position resolution of measuring electromagnetic shower.

As scintillation crystals are increasingly used in high-energy physics and space research, medical imaging, industrial detection, and security inspection, the demand for this material is increasing and the market prospect is even broader.

The two primary business segments of China Mineral Resources are the development and utilization of rare and light metal resources such as lithium, cesium, and rubidium, as well as technical services for solid mineral exploration and the development of mineral rights.

The company is a leading enterprise in the field of fine chemicals of rubidium and cesium salts. In August 2018, it acquired 100% of Dongpeng New Materials' equity and entered the field of lithium, cesium, and rubidium processing and sales;In 2019, the company acquired Cabot's Special Fluids Division and obtained the mining rights of the world's largest cesium garnet mine, Tanco Mine. Since then, it has laid out a cesium industry chain of "cesium resource development + cesium salt research and development and production + sales and service + cesium resource recycling".

The company has the world's major high-quality cesium resources (Tanco mine in Canada), two major production bases (Winnipeg in Canada and Xinyu City in Jiangxi Province, China) and cesium formate recycling bases (Aberdeen in the UK and Bergen in Norway), providing diversified and customized products and technical support for high-quality enterprises in many industries.

The company's cesium salt products mainly include cesium carbonate, cesium sulfate, cesium nitrate, cesium hydroxide, cesium iodide and cesium formate, etc. It has a large number of high-quality customer resources worldwide, including Shanghai IRAY Imaging, Hamamatsu Photonics, Fujifilm, Evonik, DuPont, Sigma, Topsoe, BASF, Bangtai, INEOS, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Asahi Kasei, LG Chem, etc.

Resources of pollucite mine:

The global resources of pollucite are scarce, and the Tanco mine, which is 100% owned by the company, has 80% of the global resources of pollucite;The Bikita mining area provides raw materials to Dongpeng New Materials and Alcoa in the United States, and Dongpeng New Materials has the exclusive agency rights for the cesium garnet in the Bikita mining area in China;The pollucite in the Sinclair mining area in Australia is mined by Pioneer and fully underwritten by the company.

The Tanco mine has an unmined cesium ore resource of 117,200 tons, of which the cesium oxide content is 16,200 tons;The amount of cesium tailings ore resources is about 3.5222 million tons, of which the content of cesium oxide is about 26,000 tons, and the total amount of cesium oxide resources in Tanco Mine is 42,200 tons.

Research and Development of Cesium Salt:

Due to the scarcity of pollucite resources and high technical barriers in the industry, only China Mineral Resources and Alcoa have achieved mass production of cesium and rubidium salts worldwide.

As one of the few companies in China that can mass produce cesium and rubidium salts, Dongpeng New Materials has established a high industry status and brand awareness in this market segment, and its domestic market share in this segment has reached 75%.

Considering the objective factors such as the preparation technology of cesium and rubidium salts and lithium salts, only enterprises with mature preparation methods and stable product quality can gain a competitive advantage in the market competition.

Cesium formate ecological operation system:

The company's cesium formate business adopts an ecological operation system of production, leasing + technical services, recycling and purification of cesium formate, which effectively utilizes cesium resources while reducing operating costs.

Currently, due to cost and process reasons, cesium formate is rarely used in the domestic oil and gas industry. With the increasing implementation of domestic environmental protection policies and the recognition of cesium formate in increasing reservoir value by oil and gas companies, the application of cesium formate in the domestic oil and gas industry will gradually expand. Therefore, as of 2021H1, the company has stored 7862 barrels (bbl) of cesium formate products with a density of 2.3g/cm³ in the Shenzhen Yantian Port Bonded Zone, laying the groundwork for domestic business in advance.