Big Hits: Patriot Battery Metals lands stunning | Australian Markets

This version of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits singles out an distinctive discovery, as a substitute of the same old fare of notable intercepts just lately revealed on the ASX. Patriot Battery Metals’ latest caesium discovery in Quebec, Canada, contains a best hit of 5 metres at 13.2 per cent caesium oxide, together with 2m at 22.9 per cent oxide, whereas one other gap produced a prime grade in 1.1m at 26.61 per cent caesium oxide.

Let’s dive in.

Patriot Battery Metals (ASX: PMT)

Shaakichiuwaanaan project, James Bay, Quebec.

Best general hit: 5m at 13.2% caesium oxide, together with 2m at 22.9% oxide.

Second best hit: 11.1m at 4.87% caesium oxide, together with 7.1m at 7.39% oxide.

Best grade: 1.1m at 26.61% caesium oxide

Patriot Battery Metals has landed on some massively over-limit caesium assays from drilling at its Shaakichiuwaanaan lithium exploration project within the James Bay space within the Canadian province of Quebec.

Latest outcomes show the company intercepted thick, high-grade caesium whereas drilling at two distinct zones 285 metres aside within the company’s important CV13 pegmatite, together with 4 prime intercepts above 22 per cent caesium oxide.

Based on their comparative per cent multiplied by intercept metres from each main and included intercepts, the highest intercept got here from the smaller however higher-grade Rigel zone, the place Patriot hit 5m at 13.32 per cent caesium oxide, together with 2m at a second highest grade of 22.90 per cent.

The second-best intercept got here from the bigger Vega zone, which delivered 11.1m at 4.87 per cent caesium oxide, together with 7.1m at 7.39 per cent.

The longest intercept additionally got here from Vega and confirmed distinctive thickness for a caesium incidence, with a run of 18.1m at 2.71 per cent caesium oxide, together with 7.4m at 5.45 per cent.

The fourth best hit got here from the Rigel zone, which additionally produced the third highest included caesium oxide consequence. The whole run includes 5.9m at 11.19 per cent caesium oxide, together with 1m at 22.69 per cent.

The Vega zone additionally delivered a subsequent best intercept of 5.7m at 4.97 per cent, together with 3m at 8.20 per cent.

The outright best grade got here from Rigel’s subsequent gap, which bored by 3.2m at 10.24 per cent caesium oxide, together with 1.1m at an astounding 26.61 per cent.

Additionally, a channel pattern at Vega ran 3m at 9.43 per cent caesium oxide, together with 1m at 22.41 per cent oxide.

The Vega zone of enrichment will be traced by the drilling program over a 600m by 400m space that ranges from 1m to 10m thick and stays open.

The Rigel zone coincides with a pronounced structural flexure within the CV13 pegmatite and is estimated from drilling to be at the very least 200m by 80m and up to about 5m thick.

Early final month, Patriot flagged caesium outcomes from drill testing that exceeded the caesium detection restrict of 10,000 elements per million (ppm) caesium for the obtainable analytical bundle – that’s more than 1 per cent caesium, or more than 1.06 per cent caesium oxide. The conversion issue for caesium-to-caesium oxide is 1.0602.

The caesium ranges in Patriot’s deposit are outstanding, on condition that the average background stage of caesium within the Earth’s rocks is comparatively low at about 3ppm or 0.0003 per cent.

More particularly, granites sometimes comprise about 1ppm or 0.0001 per cent caesium, whereas sedimentary rocks average 4ppm or 0.0004 per cent oxide. Accordingly, caesium is taken into account a uncommon component.

Within the more common pegmatitic host rocks for caesium, the average stage of caesium could differ considerably, however research recommend an average of about 1106 ppm or 0.1106 per cent caesium oxide.

Some pegmatites can carry larger average ranges, which might attain up to 5057 ppm or 0.5 per cent caesium oxide, resembling at Western Australia’s well-known Mt Edon pegmatite discipline, 430 kilometres north-northeast of Perth close to Payne’s Find.

Caesium is often related to different uncommon parts resembling lithium and tantalum and is one of the important thing “fertility” indicator parts that outline lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites as being beneficial for the opposite two crucial metals, amongst others resembling rubidium.

Everest Metals Corporation has outlined a rubidium useful resource estimate at Mt Edon of 3.6-million-tonnes at 0.22 per cent rubidium oxide and 0.07 per cent lithium oxide at a 0.1 per cent rubidium oxide cut-off grade.

Rubidium is an alkali metallic, within the group comprising lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, and francium on the periodic desk of parts. All the alkali metals are identified for his or her gentle, silvery look and high reactivity. All the alkalis react violently in air or water and, as a consequence, they tarnish and oxidise quickly to oxides and/or hydroxides on publicity.

As a consequence of their reactivity, none of the alkali metals are current within the earth’s geological profile as a native metallic and are normally recovered in processing as oxides, carbonates or hydroxides.

Due to its high reactivity, caesium is classed as a hazardous materials and is often saved and shipped in dry, saturated hydrocarbons, resembling mineral oil. It will be dealt with solely underneath an inert gasoline, resembling argon.

Caesium has just one steady isotope, caesium-133, and is mined primarily from its principal ore mineral, pollucite, a hydrated alumino-silicate mineral discovered mostly in pegmatites.

Patriot has recognized pollucite by X-ray diffraction in its project and attributes the mineral as being the first source of the caesium enrichment, primarily based on the very high caesium grades and geological logging.

The high-grade caesium intercepts point out that semi-massive to large pollucite is current, particularly within the high-grade Rigel zone the place a number of 10 per cent to 20-plus per cent caesium oxide intercepts are current.

The company has kicked off mineralogical research on the Vega and Rigel caesium zones to substantiate the presence and quantify the abundance of pollucite and, to a lesser extent, on a pink lithium mica lepidolite.

Pollucite resembles quartz and is commonly related to lithium-rich minerals, resembling lepidolite and petalite. Patriot’s project presents the identical affiliation.

Caesium has a vast and steadily rising selection of makes use of. Since the Nineteen Nineties, essentially the most distinguished software of caesium has been as caesium formate for drilling fluids to increase the fluid’s density. A concentrated answer of caesium formate has a density 2.3 occasions the density of contemporary water.

The metallic additionally finds intensive however particular use in different purposes, together with in extremely correct atomic clocks, which have turn into important elements of the web, mobile gadgets and international positioning systems.

The metallic can also be employed in photoelectric cells as a result of its capability to lose electrons when struck by gentle and as a “getter” to take away residual hint gases in vacuum tubes. It additionally finds use within the manufacturing of optical glasses and can be utilized as a catalyst within the hydrogenation of natural compounds.

The radioactive isotope, caesium-137, has purposes in medication, together with radiation remedy and in industrial gauges resembling thermometers and in hydrology to measure stream charges.

Economically viable caesium deposits are of high worth however are very uncommon globally and normally happen at a smaller scale in a useful resource vary of 10,000 tonnes up to 350,000t. They are sometimes recognized in drill intercepts from 3m to 10m thick.

Sinomine Resource Group’s Tanco mine in Manitoba, Canada, is believed to be the world’s greatest identified source of caesium and is estimated to comprise about 350,000t of the host mineral pollucite, at present representing over two-thirds of the world’s identified caesium reserves.

The comparatively small scale of caesium assets stands in stark distinction to the world’s greatest pegmatite-hosted lithium deposits, which frequently vary from 10Mt to more than 100Mt of ore.

Most notably within the context of Patriot’s discovery of exceptionally high grades of more than 26 per cent, the Tanco mine studies grades as high as 13.83 per cent caesium oxide.

Due to its shortage and particular utilization, the market price of high-purity caesium metallic is difficult to find out and varies vastly in accordance with the shape and quantity required.

Principal compound kinds, in descending order of demand, are as caesium formate; chloride and different halides, carbonate, nitrate and hydroxide, adopted by varied different kinds. The pure metallic is commonly supplied in 1-gram ampoules of 99.8 per cent pure caesium.

No more than a few thousand kilograms of caesium chemical compounds are considered consumed within the United States every year and the nation is totally import-reliant for its caesium wants, with main international producers estimated to incorporate Canada, China, Germany and Russia.

Import and export information for caesium has not been obtainable for the reason that late Nineteen Eighties and since caesium metallic will not be traded in industrial portions, a market price is unavailable.

In 2023 a USGS mineral commodities abstract indicated that one company supplied 1-gram ampoules of 99.8 per cent (metallic foundation) caesium for $91.60, a 19 per cent increase from $76.97 paid in 2022; and 99.98 per cent (metallic foundation) caesium for $117, a 20 per cent increase from $97.86 paid in 2022.

At the top of September 2023, the costs for 50 grams of 99.9 per cent (metallic foundation) caesium acetate, caesium bromide, caesium carbonate, caesium chloride and caesium iodide had been US$142.00, $98.10, $127.80, $143.40 and $163.80, respectively, with will increase starting from 5 per cent to twenty per cent in contrast with 2022 costs.

Another 2022 Wikipedia itemizing of pure component costs places caesium metallic at US$61,800 (A$95,790) per kilogram.

In 2024, the caesium market measurement was valued at US$363.58M (A$573M), with whole income anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth price of 6.5 per cent from 2025 to achieve virtually US$601.72M (A$949M) by 2032.

Caesium formate brines are sometimes rented by oil and gasoline exploration shoppers. After completion of a effectively, the used brine is returned and reprocessed for subsequent drilling operations, with virtually 85 per cent of the brines recovered for reprocessing.

Patriot additionally nailed vital caesium outcomes from its close by 4.6km-long CV5 pegmatite, east of the CV13 pegmatite, with two best runs of 10.4m at 1.3 per cent caesium oxide, together with 4m at 2.02 per cent; and 9m at 1.2 per cent, together with 1.5m at 5.03 per cent.

The mineralisation seems to happen alongside the complete size of the second gap. The distinct zones are much less obvious than these on the two key caesium zones within the main gap pegmatite and Patriot says additional review and modelling is required to outline the character and extent of the zone, given the more open drilling density in that half of the project.

Patriot’s project at present hosts a mixed lithium mineral useful resource estimate of 80.1Mt at 1.44 per cent lithium oxide within the indicated useful resource class and 62.5Mt at 1.31 per cent lithium oxide within the decrease inferred class.

Patriot’s share price moved on final week’s caesium discovery announcement with an instant leap from 0.195 cents on the company’s earlier close to achieve 0.24c on Thursday. The share price settled back to $0.23 in the present day.

Caesium mineralisation of this scale and grade, particularly together with high-grade lithium and tantalum, stays exceptionally uncommon globally and underscores the high-value crucial mineral endowment of the geological system at Patriot’s project.

Considering caesium’s strategic significance and shortage in international markets and its inevitable rising use in key industrial and specialised purposes, Patriot’s discovery has the potential to vastly improve the project as a by-product.

Considering present worldwide tensions between the US and China and Russia, any disruption of provide of this crucial component may severely upset US industry and impede the development of essential navy {hardware} and new caesium lasers for its ballistic missiles.

As a consequence, the US and Canada agreed in December 2021 on a coverage to decrease the demand for valuable minerals produced or regulated by China.

While Patriot’s sensational caesium discovery is at an early stage, it’s sure to have lit a small fire underneath the company’s already appreciable enthusiasm for the project because it presents a large alternative that might place the project among the many prime lithium-caesium-tantalite pegmatite property globally.

The company intends to additional consider the caesium alternative because it continues to develop its Shaakichiuwaanan lithium project in the direction of development.

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