On the floor of PDAC 2026 in Toronto, InvestorNews host Tracy Hughes spoke with Robin Dunbar, CEO of Grid Metals Corp. (TSXV: GRDM | OTCQB: MSMGF), about the company’s cesium discovery in Manitoba and why the metal is attracting growing attention in the critical minerals sector.
“Cesium is a metal that not a lot of people have common market knowledge about,” Dunbar said. “But it’s very rare and very critical, so it’s a good metal to be looking for.”
Grid Metals recently released final assays from its current drill campaign and plans to continue drilling through April. The program is designed to complete more than 100 shallow drill holes and support an initial resource estimate expected later this year.
“Cesium is incredibly hard to find,” Dunbar said. “There have only been six deposits ever discovered globally of any significance, and ours is hanging together. We think we’ll have a meaningful resource later this year.”
The market for cesium is relatively small—about US$400 million annually—but strategically important. The metal is used in high-pressure drilling fluids for natural gas wells, atomic clocks, communications technology, and optical systems.
Supply today is largely controlled by Sinomine Resource Group and Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), leaving limited feedstock available. Dunbar believes that creates an opportunity for a new North American source.
“There’s a real shortage of feedstock,” he said. “We want to bring a new deposit of cesium to market in the next couple of years.”
The company’s deposit is shallow, with mineralization beginning around 20 metres below surface. Dunbar explained that the rock can be crushed and run through X-ray transmission (XRT) ore sorting to produce a saleable cesium concentrate, avoiding the need for complex processing infrastructure.
“It’s much more akin to a quarry,” he said. “Yet the rock we’re looking at could be worth well over US$1,000 per ton.”
For Grid Metals, the goal is not just exploration success but near-term cash flow. “If we can generate revenue from cesium, it would set us apart from many junior companies,” Dunbar said.
Dunbar will also be speaking about cesium and its growing strategic importance at the Critical Minerals Institute Summit V in Toronto on May 13–14, 2026.
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