PMET Resources Inc. reports results from its Phase 2 bench-scale caesium testwork program completed by Koch Technology Solutions ("KTS"), part of Koch Inc., on pollucite concentrate from its Shaakichiuwaanaan Project, host to the world's largest pollucite-hosted caesium pegmatite Mineral Resource and one of the world's largest lithium pegmatite Mineral Reserves1.
Caesium and tantalum are anticipated co-products at Shaakichiuwaanaan, with the potential for future revenue to be credited against the cost of lithium production. A Preliminary Economic Assessment, targeted for Q4 2026, will provide the first economic evaluation of the caesium credit.
The Company continues to evaluate downstream opportunities beyond pollucite concentrate production at site to potential "value-added" caesium chemicals, produced with strategic partners with chemical expertise to maximize value from its globally significant caesium resource. The KTS proprietary process offers an attractive and compelling process route for caesium extraction from pollucite concentrate into marketable chemical products, potentially capturing more economic value from the caesium resource. This program further develops the potential process pathway.
Koch Technology Solutions Caesium Extraction Testwork Program
The program was carried out under a testwork arrangement with KTS, announced on April 15, 2026. KTS, part of Koch Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the world, develops, commercializes, and licenses critical minerals extraction technologies. The arrangement with KTS allows the Company's testwork program to leverage demonstrated capabilities in engineering, development, and commercialization of critical minerals extraction technologies.
Following completion of Phase 1 (see news release dated July 12, 2026), the Phase 2 bench-scale program advanced by KTS was designed to assess the application of their proprietary flowsheet technology that uses highly selective media. The approach targets simplification of the existing, more conventional caesium recovery methodology by significantly increasing selectivity for caesium, which would allow for much of the impurity removal stage(s) to be bypassed. In contrast, existing approaches require additional stages to obtain the desired caesium product purity. If successful, the approach using KTS's proprietary flowsheet offers an opportunity to significantly lower the cost of recovery into a final high-purity caesium product.
The results of the recent bench-scale testwork have successfully established the potential for a wide variety of caesium end-products to be produced by the KTS process, demonstrating high selectivity for caesium and a much-reduced impurity profile. Further work is required to validate the process through to marketable samples; however, the confirmation of high selectivity for caesium using Shaakichiuwaanaan pollucite concentrate, is a significant milestone.
Next Steps
A follow-up testwork program is now being designed and is anticipated to comprise a complete bench-scale proof-of-concept for the processing of pollucite concentrate from Shaakichiuwaanaan through to gram quantities of marketable caesium products (e.g., caesium formate, caesium carbonate), as well as an initial assessment of OPEX-CAPEX. This program will utilize a larger quantity of concentrate, which is currently targeted to be produced from the ongoing BerryPick Program (see news release dated September 8, 2026).
The pollucite sample collection methodology undertaken in the BerryPick program is designed to produce >500 kg to potentially >1 tonne of pollucite concentrate to support ongoing development and downstream caesium chemical testwork initiatives. This includes future chemical testwork programs with Koch Technology Solutions, as well as with others as the Company furthers its engagement with strategic partners in the caesium industry downstream (see news release dated April 15, 2026).
In addition to being one of the largest lithium-tantalum pegmatite Mineral Resources2 and lithium pegmatite Mineral Reserves3 globally, the Property also hosts the world's largest in-situ pollucite-hosted caesium pegmatite Mineral Resource, comprising 0.69 Mt at 4.40% Cs2O (Indicated) and 1.70 Mt at 2.40% Cs2O (Inferred). The CV13 Pegmatite, host to the caesium Mineral Resource, is located <3 km along trend from the CV5 Pegmatite, which is situated approximately 13 km south of the regional Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure corridor, and is accessible year-round by road.
About Caesium
Mineral deposits of pollucite-hosted caesium are very rare globally and represent the most fractionated component of LCT pegmatite systems, which are effectively the only known primary economic source of caesium supply. Economic deposits of caesium pegmatite are typically on a smaller scale of <10 kt to 350 kt in size compared to deposits of lithium pegmatite that typically range in the millions of tonnes in size (<10 Mt to over 100 Mt).
The market for caesium compounds and metals is niche and largely opaque because it is not publicly traded like copper or gold, but rather through private bi-lateral and term contracts. Further, product prices vary depending on their contained caesium form, purity, and end-product use. As an example, caesium carbonate (Cs2CO3≥99%) as an indicative spot price currently trades at around US$250/kg (excluding VAT, Price Sourcing – Shanghai Metal Markets (SMM)4
Caesium is currently supply constrained, with only limited sources supplying the global market. A discovery at the size, grade, and scale of Shaakichiuwaanaan has the potential to be a primary source of supply for global markets over the long-term. T
About Koch Technology Solutions.
Koch Technology Solutions (KTS) is a global leader in technology development, commercialization and licensing. KTS works with owners, developers, and investors in the process, manufacturing and critical minerals sectors to solve complex technical and investment challenges before large capital is committed, helping clients make confident decisions from early concept through EPC-ready design. With a global network and rich history of domain experience and expertise, KTS gains additional strength from its position within Koch Engineered Solutions (KES).
About PMET Resources Inc.
PMET Resources Inc. is a pegmatite critical mineral exploration and development company focused on advancing its district-scale 100%-owned Shaakichiuwaanaan Property located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, Canada, which is accessible year-round by all-season road and proximal to regional hydro-power infrastructure.
Source: PMET Resources Inc.
