Critical Elements Drills 2.70% Li2O at Rose West as Spodumene Prices Sit 57% Above January Lows

The best interval Critical Elements Lithium has reported from Rose West so far: 1.89% Li2O over 27.35 metres, including 2.70% Li2O over 10.50 metres, in hole RW-26-35A. The company disclosed those results on August 12, 2026, as part of its 10,000-metre Phase 2 Summer 2026 drill program at the 100%-owned project in Eeyou Istchee, Québec, per the company's August 12, 2026 news release on StockTitan.

Other holes from the same August 12 release returned 1.00% to 1.58% Li2O over 14 to 19 metres, confirming mineralization across Pegmatites 2, 3, and 5. A subsequent update on August 24, 2026, added hole RW-26-57, which cut 1.08% Li2O and 154 ppm Ta2O5 over 18.70 metres through Pegmatite 5, including a higher-grade sub-interval of 2.15% Li2O and 142 ppm Ta2O5 over 6.00 metres, per the August 24 update reported by Investing News Network — a reminder that Rose West carries a tantalum credit alongside the lithium.

The footprint behind these numbers has grown substantially. Rose West measured roughly 450 by 370 metres when winter 2024 drilling began, per the company's public disclosure. Two rigs are now executing a 100-metre grid across a target that has expanded to approximately 1,250 by 800 metres, with 2026 drilling opening an additional 300 by 300 metre block in the Main Target Area. The company is targeting a potential footprint of approximately 1,250 by 2,000 metres.

Rose West sits within Critical Elements' flagship Rose Lithium-Tantalum project, which covers 502 claims across approximately 26,034 hectares plus a 157-hectare mining lease in the Traditional Lands of the Eastmain Community, per the company's public disclosure.

The market backdrop gives these assays added context. SC6 spodumene concentrate prices surged approximately 57% year-to-date by June 2026, rising from US$1,560–1,590 per tonne in January to US$2,428 per tonne by early June, per Benchmark Minerals data cited by Discovery Alert. By September 2, 2026, spodumene concentrate (6% Li2O, FOB Australia) was assessed at $2,254 per tonne, down 0.8% week on week, per Benchmark Minerals — a modest pullback from the June peak but still well above where the year opened. Lithium carbonate's August 2026 average CIF Asia spot price was assessed at US$19,525 per tonne, a 12.2% decline from the May peak but 106% above the 2025 average, per the same sourcing. On September 17, 2026, global lithium prices declined 1.85% to $19.86/kg, with China spot settling at ¥133,200 per tonne; cautious downstream purchasing ahead of China's National Day holiday and high inventory levels were cited as near-term drags, per carboncredits.com.

Critical Elements made the investor-facing move explicit on September 11, 2026, when it announced that the Rose Lithium-Tantalum project had been selected for inclusion in the Canada Investment Summit Prospectus for the inaugural summit held in Toronto on September 14–15, 2026, per the company's news release on cecorp.ca.

The broader week ending September 18, 2026, was a mixed one for equities. The Fed unanimously raised rates for the first time since 2023, the 10-year Treasury yield briefly crossed 5% — its highest since July 2007 — and fed funds futures were pricing roughly 42% odds of two more hikes in 2026, per CNBC. The Dow shed 733 points on the week while the Nasdaq gained 2.6% and the S&P 500 added 0.7%, per CNBC. Copper gained 2.54% on the week per StockRover's weekly market brief dated September 18, 2026.

Next up for the broader market: preliminary September PMI data due September 23 and a potential U.S.-China summit that CNBC flagged as a wildcard for the week of September 21–25.