Advertise on podcast: The Power Current with Chris Berry

The global economy runs on infrastructure most of us will never see. Beneath the world's oceans lies a vast network of undersea cables and pipelines carrying internet traffic, financial transactions, energy, and electricity. But what happens when that infrastructure becomes a target of geopolitical conflict? In this episode of The Power Current, host Chris Berry welcomes Elisabeth Braw, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and author of Undersea War: The Battle to Control the Cables and Pipelines That Connect Our World. Braw explains why the seabed is emerging as a new geopolitical battleground, where sabotage, espionage, economic competition, and national security increasingly collide. The conversation explores mysterious cable disruptions in the Baltic Sea, the Nord Stream sabotage investigation, the growing technological rivalry between the United States and China, and the possibility of an emerging "Iron Curtain" beneath the oceans. They also examine why no single country or international organization is responsible for protecting this critical infrastructure, how NATO is responding with new underwater surveillance technologies, and what the conflict involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz could mean for the future of global connectivity.

My guest today is Will Thompson, Founder and Managing Partner of Massif Capital. I had originally wanted Will to come on the pod and talk copper, but as you’ll see this conversation quickly branched out into something much deeper. Will is a former investment banker and has worked in political risk insurance and with NATO in Afghanistan. This conversation was one of my favorites, and we easily could have gone on for hours. We cover a host of topics including: capital cycle analysis, parsing political and geopolitical risk, position sizing, the types of resource companies the fund likes to hold, the lithium, copper, and tungsten markets, why buying is so much easier than selling, and best and worst investments and what he learned. I think you’ll really enjoy this discussion and if did, please share it far and wide and don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen. Here is the Fund webiste: https://www.massifcap.com/ During the podcast, we do discuss a number of publicly traded companies. As always, it’s vital to remember to do your own due diligence and nothing you hear on this podcast should be thought of as investment advice. Thanks again and we’ll see you next time.

This is a solo episode and is a primer on the tungsten market. We haven't published any episodes without a guest, so if you like this (or don't!), let me know and we can mix in more of these types of pods. In the critical metals space, tungsten has become the topic du jour. The narrative around critical mineral investing has shifted in recent years away from ESG and green growth and towards national defense supply chains. Due, in part, to this shift certain metals associated with the theme have grabbed investor attention. This is where the tungsten story begins. I want to walk through the basics, the nuances, and the misunderstandings of this unique metal. Thanks almost exclusively to policy choices in Beijing and Washington, tungsten's price has exploded and bifurcated into two distinct markets. The free flow of tungsten materials is, for now, a thing of the past. Just ask a toolmaker in Japan how things have changed and you’ll get an idea. So given this pricing anomaly and tungsten's indispensable role in certain sectors of the economy, taking a closer look seems prudent to say the least. This is meant to be a shorter primer on the metal of war. If you found it useful, share it with someone who wants to understand tungsten better. Also, don't forget to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.

Our guest today is Andre Zeitoun, CEO of Ionic Mineral Technologies. Ionic is a US-based developer of rare earths and other critical minerals projects and is positioning itself as a vertically integrated “hub”. We cover a lot in this pod including Andre’s unique background in finance and how it shaped how he runs Ionic, the leverage in partnerships, clay-based mining, competing with China, dealing with Washington, and what Andre would and wouldn’t change if he were a policymaker. If you enjoyed this discussion, please share it far and wide and don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen.

My guest today is Joe Lowry, aka Mr Lithium. I have known and respected Joe for a number of years and so it was great to have him back on. This podcast is really a “two-parter”. In Part 1, we discuss the response Joe has received to his book, “Lithium Confidential” and go deeper into his history around how he first got into lithium, his experiences in Asia, the impacts it had on his family, why “trust compounds faster than capital”, and why getting let go from FMC was the best thing to ever happen to him. We talk about his approach to podcasting and the unintended benefits he’s experienced as a part-time podcaster. Part 2 is a deep dive into the dynamic lithium world and we look at a host of issues including the disconnect between demand and share prices, how China outworked both Japan and Korea en route to dominating the supply chain, contract pricing dynamics, some of the biggest retail and institutional investor misunderstandings of lithium, and what needs to happen in the supply chain today to avoid falling behind in several years. If you enjoyed this discussion, please share it far and wide and don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen. Thanks again and we’ll see you next time.

We have a returning guest today in Bryan Bille, Head of Geopolitical Risk and Policy Analysis at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Today’s pod is a follow-up to Bryan’s first discussion where he set the stage around how different countries are approaching the supply chain build out for critical minerals. As elbows in Brussels, Washington and Beijing continue to sharpen, we look at the moves different countries have made and see who is in the lead, who is close, and who is fading. We also look at how overall demand has shifted and rank which sectors are set to benefit and what it will take to truly compete with Beijing. Bryan also offers his views on M&A and consolidation in the space.

In this episode of Power Current, host Chris Berry sits down with Flemming Bjørnslev of Aquatech to explore one of the biggest challenges facing the global rare earth industry: processing. Flemming explains why the future of Western rare earth supply chains depends not only on discovering new deposits, but on building the technical expertise to separate, refine, and produce high-purity materials at commercial scale. The conversation covers the growing role of water management, solvent extraction, zero-liquid discharge systems, and integrated process design in creating bankable rare earth projects across North America, Latin America, Australia, and beyond. Chris and Flemming also discuss the geopolitical forces reshaping critical mineral supply chains, the rise of clay-hosted rare earth deposits, and why early technical partnerships are becoming essential for successful project development. Whether you're interested in rare earths, critical minerals, or the technologies enabling the energy transition, this episode offers a timely look at one of the industry's most important bottlenecks.

My guest today is Mr Tomasz Nadrowski, portfolio manager of the Amvest Terraden Critical Minerals Fund and author of the terrific new book titled “Mineral War – China’s Quest for Weapons of Mineral Destruction”. Tomasz has spent over 15 years managing commodity mining equity portfolios for a host of institutional clients and was a Director at the World Economic Forum and VP of Business Development at AngloGold Ashanti, then the world’s largest gold producer. Tomasz is unique in that he is both a market practitioner and historian. In today’s pod we cover a host of topics including Chinese industrial history, the build versus buy argument and consolidation in the rare earths space, how governments can send better “signals” to private sector investors, and what the next five years will look like as governments and capital compete for a seat at the critical metals table. If you enjoyed this discussion, please share it far and wide and don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen.

My guest today is Martin Turenne, President and CEO of FPX Nickel. Martin has a decade and a half of markets experience – almost all in the nickel market and has some really interesting views on market structure and the future direction for nickel. In this conversation we cover a wide range of topics including the “trail of tears” in the nickel market, the OPEC-like dominance of Indonesian nickel production, and how the Indonesian government is looking to sustain this through quotas and vertical integration. We then look at the role of partners in asset development, Japan’s strategic foresight in nickel and other markets, and how a “green premium” for nickel could be structured. We close by examining just how concentrated geopolitical risk is in nickel relative to other metals. As FPX is a publicly traded company, it’s essential to remember to do your own due diligence on the story before making any decisions. If you enjoyed this discussion, please share it far and wide and don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen.

Chris Berry interviews Christian Kargl-Simard, CEO of Blue Moon Metals, about his transition from metallurgical engineering into the world of junior base and critical metal production. Kargl-Simard shares insights on Blue Moon’s portfolio of five brownfield, permitted assets located in stable jurisdictions such as the United States and Norway. A primary focus of the discussion is the critical role of geopolitics in the mining sector, highlighting how the need for domestic security of supply is driving intense interest in tungsten, gallium, and germanium. He outlines his operational strategy, specifically a "hub and spoke" model centered around the Springer asset in Nevada, which aims to minimize risk and accelerate the timeline to production. Finally, the episode explores the surge of capital from U.S. institutional investors following Blue Moon’s NASDAQ listing and why the current critical metals narrative represents a multi-decade shift in global supply chains.

While the war in Iran has put a spotlight on oil prices and the risk of a global energy shock, a number of critical chemical inputs are also under threat. One of the most important — and least talked about — is sulfuric acid. As the West races to scale up mining projects, reliable access to inputs like sulfuric acid is essential. So what happens if that supply is disrupted or cut off entirely? Consider that 70% of sulfuric acid is produced from elemental sulfur, and 80% of that elemental sulfur is a byproduct of oil and gas production — meaning a single geopolitical shock could ripple across multiple industries simultaneously. Are there viable substitutes? How do other industries that depend on sulfuric acid respond to a supply crunch? And does limited supply simply go to the highest bidder? Here to address these questions and more is Sangita Kannan, a PhD candidate at the Colorado School of Mines. Sangita is a chemical engineer turned mineral economist whose research sits at the intersection of mineral economics, public policy, and the technical fields surrounding the manufacture of critical materials.

Last week I was visiting investors and companies on the West Coast of the US for a project I’m working on and the predominant topic was Geopolitics. Specifically, how to interpret it, how to price it, and how to build a business in a highly strategic sector as the rules seemingly continue to change. Metals prices are broadly WAY UP so equity investors should be happy and the companies themselves should also be taking advantage of this moment and raising as much capital as is prudent. That said, there’s still a sense of concern in the markets and it rests at the foot of government. Talk of stockpiling and price floors is all the rage, but beyond the Beltway here in DC there are legitimate concerns that these policies are optimal and will not cause unintended consequences. With those questions in mind, my guest today is Bryan Bille, Head of Geopolitical Risk and Policy Analysis at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. If you enjoyed this discussion, please share it far and wide and don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen. Thanks again and we’ll see you next time.

Hello and welcome back to this episode of The Power Current. The Power Current is a podcast that tries to provide clarity around what happens when commodities, geopolitics and technology all collide. The Power Current is a production of the Clear Commodity Network. Today we're looking at company building in the critical metals space in Saskatchewan with Christopher Hopkins, CEO of Canadian Energy Metals Corp or CEMC. CEMC is a privately held company developed being a project in Saskatchewan focusing on alumina and downstream products such as high purity aluminum and others. Christopher is a leader in the resource sector and has decades of experience in the markets and environmental sciences. Before becoming CEO of CEMC, Christopher successfully led multiple projects in the oil patch. Our discussion covers lessons learned from company building, Canada-US dynamics, how the company differentiates itself through processing, and how to choose the right partners to build a resilient and dynamic company. Since we discuss companies in this episode, I or family members may own securities in any companies mentioned. As always, please do your own extensive due diligence. If you enjoyed this discussion, please share it far and wide, and don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen. Thanks again and we'll see you next time.

Industrial policy debates around critical metals continue to rage in national and financial capitals. What works best? Price floors? Export controls? Tariffs? A mixture? I wanted to flesh out these and other questions with two individuals that have been steeped in the policy and financial questions that the markets are struggling to answer: Arnab Datta and Alex Turnbull. Arnab is the Managing Director of Policy Implementation at Employ America and Alex is a well-known investor and researcher in the energy transition ecosystem. After getting their thoughts on the general state of play in the critical metals markets, we delve into price floors, the proper balance between the public and private sector, cost of capital, the MP Materials deal challenges, and what the next five years might look like. As a reminder we do mention companies in this episode so please do your own due diligence before making any investment decisions. If you enjoyed this discussion, please share it far and wide and don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen. Thanks again and we’ll see you next time.

Today, we’re taking a deep dive into green technology with Graham Bain, the Principal Analyst for Energy Transition Research at Enverus. Graham has a background as a geologist and now runs a team covering CCUS, geothermal, and direct lithium extraction technologies. One constant in investing is that technology is a profoundly deflationary force that creates many more opportunities than it destroys despite the luddites out there that may disagree. Graham walks us through the tech landscape here and the potential impacts these technologies can have on society. This pod turned out to be a great tutorial on these technologies as we haven’t covered them in depth before. If you are a fan of green technologies and enjoyed this discussion, please share it far and wide and don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen.