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Cesium: A critical metal shaping modern technology

About Cesium

Cesium (or Caesium in Europe), element 55, is listed on the U.S. Critical Minerals List. It is the most reactive of all the alkali metals with great importance in certain fields.

Today, cesium’s primary value lies in high-tech applications, such as:

  • Specialty glass for fiber optics

  • Atomic clocks,

  • Quantum computing,

  • Ion propulsion for spacecraft.

  • Cesium formate used as a drilling fluid in the oil and gas industry

  • Blue coloration in fireworks.

If ILC exercises its option on the Karibib lithium, rubidium and cesium project in Namibia, we will also have a significant cesium resource at Karibib, calculated to be enough to meet the whole world’s cesium demand for a year.  

As of December 2025, cesium carbonate traded at US$219/kg—over 16 times the price of lithium carbonate—highlighting its high unit value despite smaller market volumes.

The market for cesium is at present very dominated by a Chinese company Sinomine which owns the Tanco mine in Canada (previously owned by Cabot Corporation) and the Bikita mine in Zimbabwe.

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