Albemarle Corporation ALB has entered into a cesium concentrate offtake agreement with Power Metals Corp. Under the agreement, ALB has agreed to a pre-payment of C$5 million to Power Metals Corp for cesium oxide concentrate from the latter’s Case Lake Project located in Ontario, Canada. The deal involves ALB's purchase of the current offtake rights held by Winsome Resources in the project.

The Case Lake Project has been of growing strategic importance as it hosts near-surface, high-grade cesium and has the potential to play a significant role in securing North America’s cesium supply chain. While the project’s offtake rights are being assigned to ALB, Winsome will retain its 15.8% shareholding of Power Metals. Albemarle’s participation strengthens Power Metals’ Canadian critical minerals strategy by securing downstream expertise in high-value cesium chemicals and supporting the development of an integrated cesium market.

The transfer of offtake rights from Hong Kong-based Sinomine Resources Limited to Winsome Resources and now, Albemarle marks a shift in the global critical-minerals landscape as the focus on securing the North American supply chain increases.

The pre-payment is subject to Power Metals securing the necessary approvals and permits to commence mining at Case Lake. It has laid out financing in stages as key development milestones are achieved, with the first portion amounting to C$2M paid following execution of the pre-payment commitment and the second C$3M paid on delivery of Environmental Compliance Approval for the Case Lake Project in 2026.  

ALB’s shares have gained 36.1% over the past year compared with the industry’s 17% decline.

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ALB’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

ALB currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Kinross Gold Corporation KGC, Fortuna Mining Corp. FSM and Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited HMY.

At present, KGC sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while FSM and HMY carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KGC’s current-year earnings is pegged at $1.67 per share, indicating a rise of 145.59%. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing it in one, with an average surprise of 17.37%. KGC’s shares have risen 188.2% over the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FSM’s current fiscal-year earnings is pinned at 76 cents per share, indicating a 65.22% year-over-year increase. Its shares have surged 110.8% over the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMY’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $2.68 per share, indicating a 132.1% year-over-year increase. HMY’s shares have gained 133.9% over the past year.

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Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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