Caesium formate is a drilling fluid and stabiliser used by...

Caesium formate is a drilling fluid and stabiliser used by drilling industry (primarily oil and gas). It is listed in the DFS as the by-product, but changes to the chemical process has uplifted LPD's output from formate to caesium sulphate.

The market for Cs2SO4 is opaque, with approximately 1300 T sold annually, mostly to chemical companies (eg Dow, Dupont) as inputs in other processes.

The pricing for Cs from USGS is of little relevance to LPD. You'll note that USGS has based its pricing on small ampules of high purity compounds. You cannot compare Cs2SO4 price with an ampule of high purity chemical.

Most Cs currently comes from the pollucite resource at the Tanco mine in Canada, which is owned by China's Sinomine (an SOE). The processing is undertaken in China, and the competitive advantage for LPD is that it's process has excellent ESG credentials and it's not China.

Given:

1. the thin market and dearth of customers;
2. the sensitivity to China controlling so much of global critical minerals;
3. the uncertainty of the Chinese regulatory environment; and
4. the desire of the Communist Party to dominate global production,

I wouldn't be surprised if a Cs OTA remained confidential until KIZAD was fully commissioned.