Critical Mineral Maze: Cesium

Find your way from the mine, through the maze, and to the everyday uses. Along the way you will learn about where we find cesium, how ore is processed, and the items that need cesium. 

You'll start at the Tanco Mine, Manitoba, Canada, a hard-rock underground mine that produces lithium, cesium, and tantalum. Navigate through the maze passing through the following ore processing steps: (1) crushing and grinding mined rock, (2) sorting pollucite from the rest of the rock, and (3) using acid to pull out cesium from pollucite. Pollucite, (Cs,Na)₂Al₂Si₄O₁₂∗2H₂O, is the main cesium ore mineral. Finally, you'll exit the maze and learn about some of the everyday uses for cesium: medical radiation therapy, catalysts, atomic clocks, and high-pressure/high-temperature oil and gas drilling fluid.