Categories: General Market Commentary- DPC
Topics: General Market Commentary- DPC

US$4 miner controls Mother Lode of the critical metal America needs most

Saudi Arabia is taking a page right out of China’s world-dominance playbook when it comes to strategic metals in the global energy transition.

The Saudis know full well that they cannot rely on a future based predominantly on oil and gas production in an era of fossil fuels decline. 
So, just like China, their plan is to dominate the global strategic metals market through a combination of minerals extraction, refining, and multibillion-dollar deals with other metals-producing countries. 

We’ve seen this playbook before. 

As you likely know… China controls the rare earth metals industry to the tune of about 70%. The communist nation also dominates the global EV battery market. 

And while China mines just 13% of the world’s lithium… it has systematically wrestled control of nearly half the world’s lithium chemical production, 78% of the world’s cathode production, and 70% of global cell manufacturing for the EV industry. 

China utilizes its growing dominance to exert control over the market for these critical minerals in ways that suit their own national interests with little to no regard to anyone else — particularly the United States. 

And as these “green energy” metals become even more critical to the future of our planet, Western nations are finding themselves in an increasingly disadvantageous position to China’s wanton aims.

The Saudis… seeing that oil is, for all intents and purposes, dead… have made it clear that they too will be following this same playbook. 
Their plan is to start with the extraction of an estimated $2.5T in metals from their own underground resources with an initial focus on rare earth metals.

Phase two will be the deployment of their vast capital resources in an effort to become a major player in minerals extraction around the world through deals and acquisitions. That part is already well underway with the Saudis’ recent stake in a copper and nickel-focused spinoff of Brazilian mining giant Vale.

The ultimate goal of the kingdom will be to capture as much of the global minerals value chain as humanly possible to their own benefit. 

Saudi Arabia’s vice minister of mining Khalid al-Mudaifer was recently quoted as saying just that: “Our strategy is for minerals or mining to maximize their value to the kingdom.”

That should sound all-too familiar. 

And it puts the spotlight squarely on the US, which continues to lag further and further behind when it comes to critical metals production and refining — particularly rare earths, lithium, and other metals deemed vital to our national security. 

We know that lithium is the primary metal used in EV battery production. But what about rare earths?

Well, this grouping of hard-to-pronounce metals plays a critical role in not only our national security but also our energy independence, environmental future, and economic growth.

In terms of the US defense sector, rare earth metals boast an array of critical applications in electronic warfare jamming devices, laser targeting systems, night vision technology, and in the production of our nation’s battle fleet. 

According to the US Department of Defense, each F-35 strike fighter requires 920 pounds of rare earth material. Each Arleigh Burke DDG-51 destroyer needs 5X that at 5,200 pounds. And every SSN-774 Virginia-class submarine requires a staggering 9,200 pounds.

 

It should come as little surprise then that the US government lists rare earth elements as Critical Minerals, thereby designating them as vital to America’s national security interests. 

One particular Critical Mineral the US needs a lot more of is antimony. 

Antimony is used in a variety of military applications including missile and munitions production, nuclear weapons production, night vision technology, and infrared sensors.

The metal also has advanced applications in key battery technologies as well as high-value electrical and energy-related technologies.
And that brings us to a brand new video presentation by our own Gerardo Del Real on an under-the-radar, US-based mineral exploration company that’s sitting on one of the largest and richest gold-antimony deposits in all of North America. 

Click here to watch the video

In fact, the project — which boasts the largest known antimony resource on American soil — is poised to be the ONLY domestically-mined source of the critical element.

Current estimates put the high-grade deposit at 148.6 million pounds of antimony plus 4.8 million ounces of gold… making it a Top-10 US gold deposit to boot! 

The project is of such vital importance to the US government that, in Q4 2022, the US Department of Defense (DoD) awarded the company US$24.8 million under Defense Production Act Title III to complete the environmental and engineering studies necessary for final permitting. 

Then, in February of this year, the DoD conditionally awarded the company an additional US$34.6 million to expand the work for advancing permitting and construction readiness, thereby bringing total Title III funding for the project to $59.4 million. 

On top of all that, the project is considered a superfund brownfield site with a primary ESG mandate of reopening a key salmon migration route that has been closed off for far too long. 

In other words… the exceptionally well-run company behind the project is committed to not only extracting the critical minerals needed to shore up our national security but, as well, to responsibly restore an old abandoned mine site to the betterment of the environment and ecosystem.

You can learn all about the company, the project, the ESG mandate, and the timely opportunity at-hand by clicking here for Gerardo’s full video presentation. 

Yours in profits,

Mike Fagan
Editor, Daily Profit Cycle