Lively and explosive, small metal more expensive than gold-cesium

Cesium is 1 important rare metal. However, most people don't know or even hear of cesium. In fact, they have been enjoying the convenience of life brought by cesium. A cesium vacuum photocell is installed on the hotel door. When people approach, the light is blocked, and the cesium photoelectric effect disappears, and the door will automatically open. Cesium is the main material for making atomic clocks (1 a timing device with an accuracy of 1 second every 20 million years). Navigation is currently the most in-demand area for atomic clocks. We take out food every time. At least four satellites send information to our mobile phones at the same time. After the mobile phone chip receives the information sent by the four satellites, it quickly lists the equations and calculates the longitude and latitude of the destination and the expected arrival time, thus planning the best route. The premise of calculation is that the atomic clocks in the satellites and surrounding base stations are accurate and correct. The safe and orderly operation of transportation, finance, power grid, computer network, mobile communication and other fields all rely on high-precision atomic clocks. In areas with high traffic, a mobile communication base station is set up every less than 500 meters, each of which has about two atomic clocks. Therefore, cesium is an indispensable element to support our intelligent life.

The spectral analysis method invented by German chemist Robert Wilhelm Bensheng and physicist Gustav Kirchhoff is called "the magic eye of the chemist". In 1860, Ben and Kirchhoff discovered cesium while studying the spectrum of mineral water residues: it was named after the Latin coesius (meaning sky blue) because of its unique blue line on the spectrum. The element symbol Cs, with an atomic number of 55 and a low melting point, is the most active alkali metal. It is easily oxidized in the air and can react violently with water to generate hydrogen and explode, so it is a dangerous chemical. Cesium metal is golden yellow, and the unit price per gram of high purity cesium is more expensive than gold.

Mineral of Cesium

When searching for "cesium" related content in the network, the high-frequency cesium zeolite and cesium garnet are the main minerals of cesium. What is the relationship between the two, which name is correct. In fact, cesium zeolite was originally called cesium garnet. Until 1944, Neel's research believed that fangalite and cesium garnet formed a limited homoplasmic series, which was the result of Cs + of cesium garnet directly replacing fangalite, not K in leucite was replaced by Cs + to form cesium garnet, so cesium garnet should belong to zeolite mineral. Therefore, it was later renamed cesium zeolite by the International Mineral Commission, but the name of cesium garnet has been used.

Cesium zeolite is the main mineral of cesium extraction abroad, mainly produced in granite and pegmatite, cesium oxide content between 17% ~ 32%, is currently known to contain the most cesium minerals. Cesium zeolite is also a rare gem that has recently appeared in the domestic market. Its appearance is colorless, transparent, and glass luster, but it should be paid attention to when wearing brittle. US and Sweden produce gem-grade cesium zeolite

There are 3 independent minerals of cesium in nature: cesium zeolite, cesium manganese star leaf stone, cesium boron lithium ore. Cesium is mostly distributed in spodumene, lepidolite and lithium iron mica. Cesium in potassium feldspar, Tianhe stone, potassium salt and carnallite and other minerals with potassium, sodium, lithium is homoplasmic distribution.

Distribution of cesium

There are 6 types of cesium deposits: pegmatite deposits, tungsten-tin veins and cesium in neobite, salt lake cesium deposits in potash deposits, and cesium in hot spring silicification. 95% of the cesium is extracted from cesium zeolite and lepidolite mined in the granitic rock. The global cesium zeolite ore is very scarce, and the cesium zeolite resources that can be mined on a large scale are mainly concentrated in the Canadian Tanco mining area, the Zimbabwe Biquita mining area and the Australian Sinclair mining area. Canada is the country with the richest cesium zeolite ore in the world, of which Tanko mine is the only main mineable mine with cesium zeolite resources in the world, with 80% of the world's cesium zeolite resources.

China's cesium zeolite mainly occurs in Xinjiang Altai Keketuohai III vein, Xinjiang River, Henan Lushi Guanpo, Fujian Nanping Xikeng and other places of the granite pegmatite, together with beryl spodumene, lepidolite, phosphorus lithium aluminum stone and tourmaline production, can be comprehensive development and utilization. However, since Xinjiang Keketuohai III mine and Jiangxi Nanping Xikeng stopped mining, there have been no reports of cesium zeolite mines available for mining in China. The extraction of cesium in salt lakes has not yet formed large-scale production. At present, the domestic cesium raw materials are mainly imported from abroad.

Uses of cesium

In May 2018, the U.S. Department of the Interior listed cesium as a list of 35 critical mineral resources. Cesium metals and compounds are irreplaceable in many fields such as atomic clocks, high-energy fuels, chemicals, medical specialty glasses, and military tracking. In addition to the traditional application fields in the past, with the rapid expansion of new fields, the demand for cesium in the following 3 areas will explode:

5G base stations. According to Greenpeace's prediction, the number of global base stations will reach 8 million by 2025. Although the amount of rubidium and cesium used in each atomic clock is only grams, due to the large number of base stations, plus the application of atomic clocks has penetrated into many fields. The demand for cesium in atomic clocks in the future will become one of the growth points of cesium downstream demand. Drilling fluid. Compared with traditional drilling fluids, cesium formate can maintain the performance of additives under high temperature and high pressure conditions and is easy to be biodegraded. In October 2021, CNOOC first proposed the use of cesium formate drilling fluid in the South China Sea ultra-high temperature and high pressure gas field, indicating that China's oil and gas companies will gradually expand the application of cesium formate. A deep well needs about 500 tons of cesium formate. With the development of domestic offshore high-temperature and high-pressure oil and gas wells and the strengthening of environmental protection, this application field will gradually open up a rapid growth mode.

Energy Materials. Cesium can be applied to ion-propelled engines, known as "space-age" metals, which have 150 times the range of today's fuels. At present, nearly 500 electric propulsion systems have been used worldwide. There are also some domestic enterprises and scientific research institutes that have been committed to the development of cesium new energy vehicles. Once the technology breaks through, the use of cesium will increase in a blowout manner.

In the face of the rapid development of strategic emerging industries, especially in the situation of higher and higher environmental protection requirements, cesium is bound to play an important role in the fields of new energy, 5G, rocket propellant, space engine and so on. Therefore, it is necessary to plan the prospecting work of high quality cesium ore in advance. Find out the existing cesium resources and analyze which types of cesium resources are likely to be developed and utilized in reality from the perspective of the needs of emerging industries. Summarize prospecting marks, delineate prospecting target areas, strengthen drilling verification and increase resource reserves; Deploy relevant research work on high-end utilization and comprehensive recovery to properly protect resources that cannot be developed for the time being.