Geoscience
Industrial Minerals
Commodity Summaries: Pollucite (cesium)
| Introduction The main source of cesium is pollucite (Cs,Na)2(Al2Si4O12)·2H2O, a mineral associated with highly fractionated rare-element pegmatites. In Manitoba, large quantities of this mineral are found within the Precambrian Tanco pegmatite, which intruded into the Archean Bird River Greenstone Belt. Applications Cesium is used to produce a dense biodegradable drilling fluid—cesium formate—which is used as a lubricating agent for large scale drilling projects. Cesium formate fluid possesses a number of attributes, such as low environmental toxicity and being biodegradable, making it an ideal product for deep drilling operations for the oil and natural gas industry working in environmentally sensitive conditions such as offshore oil and gas drilling in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Other uses of specialized cesium chemicals include a variety of applications from military to medical and pharmaceutical uses. |
Pollucite, Lily Pad Lake, Manitoba. |
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| Deposits and Occurrences The Tanco pegmatite at Bernic Lake contains two thirds of the world’s known reserves of cesium. Cesium is mined as pollucite ore in a shallow underground mine from a zoned pegmatite. The pegmatite is accessed by ramp and extraction method is room and pillar to achieve a high recovery rate. Pollucite occurs with other minerals such as spodumene, beryl, lepidolite and feldspars. Suggested References Bannatyne, B.B. 1985: Industrial minerals in rare-element pegmatites of Manitoba; Manitoba Energy and Mines; Mineral Resources Division, Economic Geology Report ER84-1, 96 p. Černý, P., Trueman, D.L., Ziehlke, D.V., Goad, B.E. and Paul, B.J. 1981: The Cat Lake-Winnipeg River and the Wekusko Lake pegmatite fields, Manitoba; Manitoba Energy and Mines, Mineral Resources Division, Economic Geology Report ER80-1, 216 p. plus 5 maps. Martins, T., Kremer, P. and Vanstone, P. 2013: The Tanco mine: geological setting, internal zonation and mineralogy of a world-class rare element pegmatite deposit; Geological Association of Canada–Mineralogical Association of Canada Joint Annual Meeting, Field Trip Guidebook FT-C1, Manitoba Innovation, Energy and Mines, Manitoba Geological Survey, Open File OF2013-8, 17 p. Martins, T., Linnen, R.L., Fedikow, M.A.F. and Singh, J. 2017: Whole-rock and mineral geochemistry as exploration tools for rare-element pegmatite in Manitoba: examples from the Cat Lake–Winnipeg River and Wekusko Lake pegmatite fields (parts of NTS 52L6, 63J13); in Report of Activities 2017, Manitoba Growth, Enterprise and Trade, Manitoba Geological Survey, p. 42–51. |
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