# Rubidium: Cycles A price that exists only in laboratory catalogues Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/cycles/ What this tab covers Price history and what drives booms and busts, including this commodity's super-cycles, the drivers behind them and the metrics to track. It charts monthly prices (World Bank) with a switch to inflation-adjusted annual prices; where there is no World Bank series it uses USGS US prices. There is no market price, only catalogue prices for research quantities. A 1-gram ampoule of 99.75% rubidium cost $138 in 2025, up 8% from $128. A 100-gram ampoule cost $2,453, so bulk buyers pay a fraction per gram. Salts rose 5% to 8%. Demand is small, under 2,000 kg a year in the United States. Supply is set by host-mineral mining, not rubidium prices. A cesium or lithium project decision could restart supply, whatever rubidium itself is worth. #### US price, 1-gram ampoule, 99.75% rubidium (metal basis), one supplier 2024 128 2025 138 dollars per ampoule. USGS MCS 2026; 2025 is an estimate. #### Super-cycles in rubidium Rubidium has no market price, no exchange and no published production, so it has no super-cycle in the usual sense. Its history is one of mines closing: Namibia in the early 2000s, Bikita in 2018 and Sinclair in 2019. Catalogue prices for small lots rise steadily, about 5-8% a year in 2024-2025. The open question is whether quantum technologies or new lithium-mica supply will change this. 1. Early 2000s Rubidium mining in Namibia ceased. no market price published (USGS) 2. 2018-2019 Bikita's pollucite reserves were depleted (2018) and Sinclair shipped its last economic pollucite (2019), ending mined supply. no market price published (USGS) 3. 2024-2025 Refiners in China and Germany drew down stockpiles. Catalogue prices rose. 1-g ampoule of 99.75% rubidium $128 (2024) to $138 (2025); 100-g ampoule $2,290 to $2,453; 10 g of rubidium carbonate $71.70 in 2025, up 5-8% (USGS MCS 2026) #### What drives the cycle - **Cesium and lithium mica projects.** Rubidium arrives only as a by-product, so these projects set future supply. - **Stockpile depletion.** No ore was mined in 2025; when stockpiles run out, supply depends on new projects. - **Quantum and atomic-clock technologies.** Ultracold rubidium atoms and rubidium clocks could raise demand from a very low base. - **Chinese refining.** China and Germany refine most compounds. #### Metrics to track | Metric | Why it matters | Where to track it | |---|---|---| | **Catalogue prices for rubidium metal and salts** | Only public price series | USGS MCS | | **Sinomine rare light metals segment results** | Proxy for cesium-rubidium market | Sinomine reports | | **Progress of Mount Edon and Namibian lepidolite projects** | New supply | Company releases; USGS MCS | | **Lithium mica (lepidolite) prices and Chinese output** | By-product potential | Benchmark Mineral Intelligence; Asian Metal | ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/overview/index.md) - [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/correlation/index.md) - [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/extraction/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/production/index.md) - [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/stocks/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/movement/index.md) - [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/criticality/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rubidium/links/index.md)