Contrarian Bets: Brian Laks on Lithium, Coal & Uranium
Coal and lithium are down 60 - 90% from their highs, uranium stocks have risen tenfold, and copper is on the cusp of breaking out. Where does a contrarian put capital next?
In this episode, Brian Laks (Old West Management) shares how he’s positioning after being early and right on uranium:
• Why coal and lithium are attractive again after brutal selloffs
• How he identifies large, low-cost supply before the cycle turns
• What uranium looks like today vs. five years ago
• Why copper still has room to surprise to the upside
• How he rotates portfolios—harvesting crowded trades, redeploying into hated ones
If you want to understand how a contrarian fund manager is navigating today’s commodity cycles, this is a must-listen.
Connect with Brian on LinkedIn on X:
• linkedin.com/in/brianlaks
• x.com/brianlaks
Companies mentioned include:LUN.TO, ADT, AFM.V, NGEX.TO, WA1, MLX, SQM.NYSE, ALB.NYSE
This was recorded on September 8th 2025.
……………
TIMESTAMPS
(0:00) – Intro
(5:50) – Portfolio Approach
(9:30) – Where are we within the uranium cycle
(12:50) – How much he has invested in Uranium
(17:00) – Did he stock up on Uranium while it’s been down?
(20:00) – Restart and new Projects
(25:20) – Copper
(28:10) – NGEX and FILO
(31:20) – Argentina problems
(33:30) – Tin market
(39:30) – Commodity Ratings
(55:50) – Final Thoughts
……………
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FOLLOW & CONNECT
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DISCLAIMER
All information in this podcast is for education and entertainment purposes only and is of general nature only. Please ensure you read our full disclaimer.
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The hardest thing about being
the contrarian is knowing and
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wanting to allow the market to
catch up, to go up on the
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00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:08,560
contrarian for contrarian sake,
right?
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00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:11,440
How do you stay long enough at
the party, especially when more
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00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,920
and more of the return comes
less from just that valuation
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00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,440
normalization and more from how
many people are going to jump
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00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:20,400
into the pool?
How high is it going to get?
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00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:25,720
How frothy is it going to get?
All right, money miners.
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00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:30,040
We have a returning guest, Brian
Lacks of Old West management,
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00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,560
who when you last came on, we we
dived into uranium, tin, a whole
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00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,560
bunch of niche kind of metals.
You of course were very early
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and successful on on the uranium
trade, Brian, and you're a self
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00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,800
professed contrarian.
So I think that's the perfect
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spot to to start the
conversation.
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What are you seeing out there
that's really presenting the
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most amount of value to you at
the moment?
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Yeah, well, first of all, thank
you guys for having me.
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And like we were joking before
we started here, I think we
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finally are end up in an
environment where a lot of these
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things are working.
And so to to switch over to some
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of the things that are on the
contrarian side.
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I'm I'm happy to do that as
well.
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But it's, you know, it's, it's,
it's quite a different
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environment than it was a few
years ago where any commodity
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that you touch was kind of
contrarian because everything
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was, was out of favor,
especially 2022 and the 2023 is,
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you know, they started raising
rates, trying to shut down.
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I think here in, in 2025, we
have seen a lot of things start
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working, especially gold and
some of the other metals.
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But I think there are still a
few areas that are out of favour
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where we're really trying to get
up the learning curve and, you
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know, maybe start to dip a toe
in.
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I guess .2 off the top of my
head would be maybe coal and
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lithium which both had you know
huge runs last few years
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obviously gave a lot of that
back, you know the last year or
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so especially on the lithium
side, you know you never like to
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to call bottom on any things,
but it does look like the long
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term fundamentals are setting up
pretty nicely and still working
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through some short term
headwinds.
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I'm so excited you've mentioned
them because I, I jotted them
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down as commodities that I
haven't heard you speak about in
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the past.
So I'm curious to, to start
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with, have you actually
initiated some positions in, in
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some of the the cold players of
the lithium players are just
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doing your homework and and
getting a feel for the space to
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start with?
You know, a little bit of both
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dipping our toe in a little bit
kind of getting up to speed on
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on the whole environment, all
the different players, but you
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know, similar and what I'm sure
we'll talk about whether
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commodities when we look at all
of these different areas we're
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looking for, OK, is there going
to be a supply demand mismatch
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somewhere either now or in the
future?
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And then who were going to be
the companies that are able to
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supply into that any with all
these commodities, who's got
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scale and who's got great?
I mean, where are the large low
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cost sources of supply?
Because in the long run that's
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really what's going to matter.
And if we can buy into those
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types of companies when there's
a short term or you know, multi
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quarter kind of downturn, I
think that's where we get the
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best return.
And we saw it in uranium 567
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years ago when all these things
were we're trading for nothing.
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And you know, that's when we're
usually doing the work building
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positions.
And then, you know, Fast forward
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five years, we're harvesting and
you know, I mean we still
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maintain a lot of the things at
work, but really looking to to
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rotate into some of these other
areas that, you know, might
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reset the clock a little bit and
give us a nice forward, you
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know, 2-3 years.
If you if you take that kind of
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yeah lens, so you you look for
where the large, large low cost
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supply might come from take take
lithium for example, you know,
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the lowest cost producers that
are Western names.
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You've got, you know, Albemarle
who's got the worst balance
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sheet in the sector and then SQM
where, you know, you kind of
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need a resolution of, of events
with the Chilean government to,
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to, to see a, a, maybe a, a
pathway where an, a large
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investment can be comfortable in
some respects.
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So do you, do you put a line
through them for those reasons
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or do you actually think they're
interesting situations for those
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reasons?
You know, I mean, it really
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depends on, you know, how, what
sort of components of return
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you're looking for.
I think when money starts
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flowing back into the space that
naturally gravitates to some of
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the bigger, more liquid names.
I mean, we saw that in uranium
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looking like a chemical where it
didn't really see a pull back
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off the 2021 highs.
It it just kind of kept dropping
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along where some of the more
junior projects, you know, did
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retrace and, and and then took a
second, second shot higher with
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lithium, I think we're looking
at it kind of the same way.
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Are there big development
projects, you know, who's got
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the big sources as a, but it
might not necessarily have to be
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a producer today, you know, and
so I think the way we look at it
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is, well, we're not really
certain when the next cycle
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takes off, but we don't
necessarily need to have someone
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in production today because, you
know, and it kind of go down
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the, the, the producer developer
curve.
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But where do we want to position
ourself, especially if we're not
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kind of jumping into the sector
with both feet right away?
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And so I, I think we do have the
luxury of time, You know, I
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don't know if we're, if we're
near bottom past of autumn,
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whatever it is.
And I've heard some of your,
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your recent guests find on that.
But I think this is a great time
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for someone who has a longer
term perspective, you know, a
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few years where they can wait to
really say, OK, who are the
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largest low cost sources of
supply, whether in production
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today or in development and what
are they trading for?
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What's baked in?
And and you know, if we have a
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different view of what the
pricing environment looks like a
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few years from now, who's going
to benefit the most given where
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they're, they're being valued
today?
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So you, you really speak to this
kind of top down approach,
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Brian, by that nature, do you,
do you always tend to play the
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portfolio approach when you when
you come into the commodity and
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pick a a handful of names like
obviously some commodities
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that's harder.
We spoke about Tim previously
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where there's a very small
number of companies you can play
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it in, but by and large, do you
prefer that portfolio approach
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to it?
You know, I, I think that kind
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of goes with how far you are at
the learning curve.
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With uranium, it was different
because the sector was so washed
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out that you really could just
pick any of them.
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I mean the whole, all of them
were $50 million market cap.
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There are a few larger ones, but
for the most part everything was
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so distressed.
I mean, this was when uranium
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was 20 or 30 bucks a pound,
right?
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And so you didn't really need
these heroic assumptions.
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You said, hey, if you can get
the 50 or 60, a lot of these
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things are trading very cheaply
and we didn't necessarily know
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which ones would perform the
best.
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I mean, I think there's a bit of
a path dependency there.
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So we did build a build a
basket.
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You know, at the time there,
there weren't a lot of there was
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one ETF and it had some
construction issues with it.
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Today it's a lot different, at
least for uranium where, you
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know, there's a half a dozen
ETFs and, you know, meet maybe
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50 or 60 companies.
Now I can't keep track of all of
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them, but for something like a
lithium or a coal, I wouldn't
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call it building a basket, but
you know, maybe, you know, maybe
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one or two stocks or three.
I guess.
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I don't know if you want to call
that a basket, but you know,
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who's a, who's a big producer
that's, that's down and out.
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Where is what are a couple big
development projects that, you
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know, might look terrible at
today's price, But if you get a
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normalization, wow, these things
actually look good.
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And they're, you know, I, I
think we like projects that turn
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into actual minds of production.
I, I know people can probably
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make more with some torquey type
of, you know, way out of the
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money.
I mean, we saw that with
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uranium.
Hey, those talks did well too.
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But I think for just the way we
operate, because we're a little
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bit larger now.
And so we we need to be able to
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move kind of chunkier pieces of
capital in it.
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And out of these things, I think
you really want something that
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gives you more than one way to
win, not just, hey, we're going
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to get a levered play to the
commodity reflation, but this
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thing might actually be a line
in, in various assumptions,
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various scenarios.
It actually looks pretty
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compelling based on where it's
trading today and what we think
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the environment might be, you
know, a couple years from now.
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How do you how do you do that
with coal?
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It's not too many new coal mines
being permitted.
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You know, I always feel like a
tourist when, you know, I listen
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to the coal guy talking.
It's just, you know, it, it's
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hard.
I think there's a handful of
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names you think that are
considered high quality.
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You know, I think really it's
just it's, it's a very similar
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type of analysis, which is, you
know, you have this big run a
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few years ago and then it all
kind of came back down.
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You had a lot of things weighing
on their end markets, China and
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steel particular.
Does that mean it's it's over or
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does that mean, you know, we
need to chew through out of this
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current environment before we
can see demand pick up, you
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know, whatever it is in a, in a
year or two into the future?
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So you look at, I mean, it's,
it's very similar.
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Who are the, who are the low
cost producers?
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Who are the large producers?
You know, where do you want to
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place your bets, whether it's
thermal or meth.
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You know, I'm, I'm no coal
expert by any means.
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And so I'm, I'm sure you'll get
a better answer talking to
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different people.
But you know, you asked where
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are the contrarian areas where I
see current sentiment out of
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favor, but I can make a case
that the long term actually
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looks better.
I think those are are two great
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examples and and partly because
a lot of the stocks are down 60%
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off their highs of a couple
years ago.
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So if we reflect on the the
uranium trade, you've mentioned
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there a few times, Brian, this
is like the best example of your
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guys strategy and how it can
play out.
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Where do you think we are in in
terms of it fully playing out
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right now?
Well, I think, you know, it's,
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it's definitely a different
environment.
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What a difference five years
makes, right?
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I mean, a lot of these things
are up fivefold, tenfold, just
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sort of crazy amounts of
enthusiasm froth.
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I don't, I don't think it's the
contrarian trade that it used to
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be.
Maybe doesn't have the same
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level of asymmetry unless you
believe in some, you know,
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nuclear renaissance or we're
going to start building hundreds
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of reactors around the world.
You know, when we first got into
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it, we did a lot of these types
of podcasts, you know, 5-6,
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seven years ago as we were
building positions there, we
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00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:08,080
didn't, we weren't baking in the
idea of a nuclear renaissance.
202
00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,560
It was just at the current, you
know, slate of reactors, the,
203
00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:13,760
the bills that were on the
table, there's just not enough
204
00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,600
uranium and the price was too
low for more supply to come
205
00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,520
online.
And so it was a simple economic,
206
00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,160
hey, the price has to go up.
You know, the time we were like
207
00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,000
50 would be great, right?
And 60, I, I think that was a
208
00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:32,560
lot of these things looked
really good, You know, So today,
209
00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,320
you know, with where the
valuations are, I think 1, you
210
00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:39,360
have to be a lot more selective.
And two, you know, you may have
211
00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:44,080
that same asymmetry if you do
believe in just a huge nuclear
212
00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,880
renaissance, which, or a lot of
flows of money into the sector
213
00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,240
and you get this kind of
valuation expansion, which we,
214
00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,240
you may have as well, because,
you know, now all the tech
215
00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:55,800
communities getting, getting
involved in there and you see
216
00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:57,720
people saying, Oh my God, you
know, we're going to have a
217
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,160
reactor on every corner.
If that's the case, yeah, you
218
00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,600
can probably make a picture for
that much more upside.
219
00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,680
But you know, we've it was a big
part of our portfolio five years
220
00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:09,080
ago when everything was washed
out.
221
00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,080
We still own a lot of it, but I
think it's more more
222
00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,160
concentrated kind of the higher
quality names.
223
00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,960
And we're not necessarily baking
in, you know, all the extreme
224
00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:19,360
bulk case even though it might
happen, right?
225
00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,160
Yeah, you get the $200 and all
these people are crazy now about
226
00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:25,240
what they think is going to
happen in the space I think we
227
00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:27,240
own, we think are good high
quality projects.
228
00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,200
And you know, it's gonna sound
like a broken record here.
229
00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,040
But who's got the big low cost
sources of supply that can come
230
00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,280
on, you know, now and into the,
you know, next 5-10 years.
231
00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,360
Think those guys should do well
because I think yeah, the price
232
00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:43,280
has gone from 20 to wherever it
is now 7080 LB.
233
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:45,680
We think it probably still has
to go higher.
234
00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:47,880
I think you're going to start to
see the long term price start
235
00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,800
marching up and whoever can
really sell into that is, is
236
00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,600
going to do well, but you do
have to be a little bit more
237
00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,240
selective.
I mean, it's pretty wild to see
238
00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,040
some of these companies that
had, you know, 100,000,200
239
00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:00,320
million market cap five years
ago now having, you know, 5
240
00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,120
billion.
You know, it's just a it's, it's
241
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:04,720
all it's, it's like the Wild
West out there.
242
00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,240
I, I think, you know, there's a
lot of these nuclear adjacent
243
00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,840
tech type names that are seeing
these crazy valuations.
244
00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,840
And so, you know, we're, we're,
we kind of watch it and say, oh,
245
00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,120
you know, it's like seeing like
one of your kids grow up, right?
246
00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,000
It's a whole different
environment.
247
00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,320
But I think there's still,
there's still a long way to go
248
00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:22,880
for the whole uranium nuclear
thing.
249
00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:25,160
We still think it's a great way
to generate electricity.
250
00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:26,960
We're going to need a lot of
electricity.
251
00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,880
It's going to be part of the
part of the portfolio approach
252
00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,840
of generating that.
The real question is what sort
253
00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:38,400
of environment is being baked
into these valuations and do we
254
00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:40,800
want to participate there or do
we think there's other parts of
255
00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:44,520
the commodity sphere where we
can get, you know, better go
256
00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,120
forward returns?
What what is your allocation to
257
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,600
uranium and then non non uranium
commodities as a percentage?
258
00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,480
I'd have to check.
I think we at one point, you
259
00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,080
know, it was, we had the cap, it
was like 30 percent, 35% and
260
00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,600
then that was before it started
running and you know, it was, it
261
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,160
was basically going up faster
than we could trim it.
262
00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,080
Today, I think it's much more
reasonable, maybe 10 percent,
263
00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:07,840
15%.
I mean, I'd have to check.
264
00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:11,240
We have a few different funds
and it varies, but certainly not
265
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,840
as large as it used to be.
I mean, partly because, yeah, we
266
00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,920
did have a pretty large basket
of them five years ago.
267
00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,640
I think now we've kind of cut
that down to a handful of what
268
00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,720
we think are are the highest
quality.
269
00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:24,320
And, you know, they're the
household names.
270
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,920
You think of the large producer,
the large developer projects.
271
00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:30,360
I mean, it's a it's not, it's
not rocket science here.
272
00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,680
I think, yeah, maybe you could
get kind of cute and going to
273
00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:36,320
some of these more niche areas
and try to squeeze something
274
00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:38,840
out.
But again, we're not trying to
275
00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:42,440
speculate on a massive nuclear
buoy.
276
00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,080
I think to get real significant
upside out of a lot of these
277
00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,040
things, you might need that,
especially given where some of
278
00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:52,720
them are trading.
So I mean, yeah, we're we're I
279
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,480
guess pretty conservative now in
our allegation there.
280
00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:58,280
But just because we see that
same setup in a lot of other
281
00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:02,120
commodities that we saw five
years ago and these other, these
282
00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,800
other places are not nearly in
the same level of rewrite that
283
00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,320
we've seen, you know where some
of these stocks are up tenfold.
284
00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,680
Whenever it is like a bottom for
a, a commodity or, you know, Max
285
00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:15,240
capitulation or whatnot, there
is always a, a narrative that is
286
00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,160
like big and loud about why
things will get worse from where
287
00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,440
they are right now.
Like, how do you how do you get
288
00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:26,880
comfort, you know, entering some
of these like commodities When,
289
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,800
when, when it kind of could be
the bottom, but there's a lot of
290
00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,400
noise and, and good reason to
think things will get worse from
291
00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,920
where they are right now.
Well, I, I think that's the, the
292
00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,200
contrarian nature right there.
You have to be careful trying to
293
00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,840
call a bottom, you know, hands
are scarred from catching
294
00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:43,280
falling knives in a lot of these
things.
295
00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:46,240
You know, uranium was a great, a
great example.
296
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,720
I mean, it bottomed in 2020.
We were building positions in
297
00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:50,920
2018 and 2019, I think, and
losing money.
298
00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,160
And so it was like, you know,
you got to have a, an investor
299
00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,520
base that kind of gives you the
benefit of the doubt that you're
300
00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:58,640
doing the right work.
You have to have have done the
301
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:00,480
work to have conviction and
where you think these things are
302
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,400
going.
And if you're correct in that
303
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,840
long term outlook, it doesn't
change.
304
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,480
Well, you should be buying more
as they're getting cheaper.
305
00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:09,440
And I think that's what you're
seeing in some of these other
306
00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,080
areas that are washed out right
now is, yeah.
307
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,960
I mean, you might have had that
bullish view on lithium a year
308
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:16,120
ago.
And, you know, I think some of
309
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:17,000
the stocks have been cut in
half.
310
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,480
And so it's difficult to try and
call the bottom, which is why I
311
00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,720
think in these types of
scenarios, we usually leg into
312
00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,480
the positions.
You know, I think we're have
313
00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,720
enough humility to know we're
not going to call the bottom to
314
00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,040
the day.
So if we can kind of build a
315
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,160
positions on, you know, a few
quarters before, a few quarters
316
00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:36,800
after, you're going to catch a
nice average price in there.
317
00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,560
And if you're right about the
potential upside, it's it's not
318
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,360
really going to matter.
I mean, I think you do have to
319
00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,040
have the investors that are not
going to, you know, pull their
320
00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,880
money if you're down after 1/4
or two quarters.
321
00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,680
Yeah.
And now we have the benefit of
322
00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,000
having done it a few times where
we've shown this kind of longer
323
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,520
term thinking works.
And so we do have the investor
324
00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:58,600
base that'll give us patience.
I mean, you know, just in the
325
00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,400
last year or so since we've
talked, two of our our largest
326
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,880
positions have been acquired,
Filo and Adriatic, which I think
327
00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:06,280
we talked about on the last
show.
328
00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,960
So it's nice to kind of have a
few things in succession where,
329
00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,640
you know, hey, we, we made these
bets, you know, five years ago.
330
00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,320
And then a few years go by, we
harvest them, make new bets, and
331
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,000
then a few years go by, we
harvest them again.
332
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,560
And I think you can show that
repeatability there.
333
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,920
But yeah, for if you don't have
that track record, it's going to
334
00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:28,840
be hard, you know, a year into
the trade and you're down 2030%
335
00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:30,840
if you you know what you're
doing, like what's going on
336
00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:32,560
here.
And so I think you do have to
337
00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:37,000
have a bit of that mindset and,
you know, set your expectations
338
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,240
correctly.
This is certainly not the multi
339
00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:40,720
manager.
What's going to happen next
340
00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:42,200
quarter, you know, try and game
it.
341
00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,680
We don't do any of that stuff.
In fact, we kind of like the one
342
00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,040
where people are actively
negative on because that's
343
00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,280
typically means they're going
down for some reason.
344
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,800
And if we can have a view that
the the next few years looks
345
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,280
better, well, that's when we
probably start building
346
00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,040
positions.
And uranium hasn't been all one
347
00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,000
way since it started going in
your sort of favor.
348
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:03,840
So the last year has been a bit
rough.
349
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,359
Did you use that chance to to
top up or you just sort of hold
350
00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:08,440
on to that core position?
Yeah.
351
00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:10,800
No, we did.
You know, we lightened up a lot
352
00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:15,839
in call it late 2021 when you
had that first, you know, real
353
00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:18,520
friends, right?
2020 at the end of 2020 is kind
354
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,720
of when the move started.
And then throughout 2021, Sprott
355
00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,079
came into the market.
You know, you kind of got into
356
00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:26,640
the summer fall in Northern
hemisphere and it was, you know,
357
00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,640
Wall Street Bets is on CNBC.
You got the price going to like
358
00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:30,920
50.
And I think a lot of these
359
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:32,960
things really had that first big
impulse.
360
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:36,040
But we got to, you know,
whatever that was September,
361
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:40,080
October, November time frame.
And we just said, man, a lot of
362
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,080
these things are already pricing
any, you know, 70 or $80 a year
363
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:44,520
income.
And remember, we had a huge
364
00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:46,000
waiting in it.
So it was like, well, let's dial
365
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,840
this back because these things
may have already gotten ahead of
366
00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:50,200
themselves.
And, and sure enough, I mean,
367
00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:52,840
there was this big digestion
period that happened, you know,
368
00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:56,200
kind of late 21 in the call it
23.
369
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:58,240
You know, then you started to
have these things ticked back up
370
00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,000
as the spot price, you know,
caught up.
371
00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,360
And then, you know, early last
year and it got above 100 and
372
00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:07,640
there's that kind of wave of
enthusiasm and then completely
373
00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,760
retrace that in the earlier this
year to where we saw sentiment
374
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,960
as bad as it was, you know, back
when we were, you know, looking
375
00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,520
at it in 20/17/18, right.
And so we did take the
376
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,200
opportunity to top up on some of
these things because the way we
377
00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:22,840
looked at it was now wait a
minute.
378
00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:25,800
A lot of these stocks are, you
know, this was call it, you
379
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,600
know, first quarter of the year
was a pretty bad order for
380
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,480
uranium stocks.
A lot of them were trading below
381
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,040
the levels that they set in
2021.
382
00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,560
And here we are, you know, 3 1/2
years later and we.
383
00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:42,000
So when I wait a minute, the
price is much higher and these
384
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,760
companies are three years closer
to production or wherever, you
385
00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,280
know, on their timeline, and yet
they're trading below where they
386
00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:50,120
were before.
And so we said, well, this
387
00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:53,040
doesn't make any sense anymore.
And you know, kind of like how I
388
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:54,880
guess it's a little bit of
zigging when the market zag,
389
00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:56,000
right?
I mean, when the things were
390
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,760
flying and they're talking,
they're all over TV.
391
00:18:58,000 --> 00:18:59,640
You know, we're we're we're
lighting up a bit.
392
00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,480
And when, you know, these die
hard uranium investors are, you
393
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,480
know, throwing in the towel,
They were like, wait a minute,
394
00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,160
we'll take a little bit and add
to that.
395
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:09,960
And so I think that that's
worked for us in the the past,
396
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,080
you know.
And so, yeah, it's, you know,
397
00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:16,760
now here we are again.
Look, I think, I think the
398
00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:18,600
uranium trade still has a lot of
legs.
399
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:23,400
It's just what sort of level of
enthusiasm do I want to
400
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,080
underwrite from here?
You know, I think we do a lot of
401
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:29,120
what I would call sort of
separating what our expected
402
00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:31,480
return components are going to
come from, whether it's just the
403
00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,400
pure valuation or whether you
know, it's going to be money
404
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,680
flowing in or multiple
expansion.
405
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,800
I think when you get to some of
these frothier eras, you know, I
406
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,040
think more of the return is
going to come from those
407
00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,760
subjective things versus, you
know, I don't want to call it
408
00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,040
the easy money because it was
hard to be made, but kind of the
409
00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:53,000
early money off that very bottom
kind of coming up into that
410
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,760
first, that first inflection, I
think that was captured.
411
00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:59,960
And now it's a bit of a more
balanced risk reward from here.
412
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:01,680
Like I say, you have to be more
selective.
413
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,400
And then it's how, how big of a
renaissance do you want to do
414
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,960
you want to to expect?
I'd, I'd love to hear you
415
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,840
thinking around, around this
because yeah, the, the best risk
416
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,000
reward is to, to be set up and
waiting for that first
417
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:16,440
inflection up in, in any
commodity.
418
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,560
But often times you see that
first inflection up, you didn't
419
00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:23,640
have the sufficient allocation
and you think, God damn it, I, I
420
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,080
knew I should have bought like a
month earlier or whatnot.
421
00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,720
But there's often still a long a
lot of legs to go like take,
422
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,480
take that kind of PGM complex at
the at the moment.
423
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:35,480
You've seen a lot of green
shoots there.
424
00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:39,280
And, and if, if, if people are,
you know, don't have an
425
00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,000
allegation, think I've missed
it.
426
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:45,200
But but then, you know, there's
this pattern in body cycles that
427
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,960
you, you see, you see a little,
you know, some, some legs up and
428
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:49,280
it doesn't just like fizzle out
there.
429
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:51,360
You often get these boom bust
kind of dynamics.
430
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,800
Yeah.
Well, and I think that's why we,
431
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,880
we do spend so much time looking
at the ones that are out of
432
00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,760
favour, because I think that's
where you can actually spend
433
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,880
time to learn the, the industry.
You can start to build
434
00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,160
positions.
You might still be buying it on
435
00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,800
the downswing.
But you know, I think, look,
436
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,640
there's a a lot of different
schools of thought there, right?
437
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,480
Some people say, I want to wait
until it shows me that it's
438
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,760
starting to work so I don't have
to take that pain.
439
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,560
You know, we had a lot of guys
in the uranium thing, you know,
440
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,120
it was 20 bucks saying, Hey,
call me when it's, you know, 30,
441
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,080
right?
Let's all I want to see it start
442
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:27,840
working.
So I mean, there's different
443
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,080
ways to, to do it.
How how much paying thresholds
444
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,880
you have, are you willing to,
you know, take a get into
445
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,320
something when it looks like
maybe there's still a quarter or
446
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,760
two of bad news ahead?
We are, I think there's a lot of
447
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,360
investors out there that do not
want to take any sort of draw
448
00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:45,560
down and so they avoid these
types of things.
449
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,720
But I think that's how the
mispricings get so severe as
450
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,560
people are like, oh, I don't
even want to look at this thing
451
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,720
until it starts turning.
We're happy to start.
452
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,960
Like I said, we built positions
over time and then we stay a lot
453
00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:58,960
of them over time, right?
When the when the environment
454
00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,160
changes, look, we have to be
right still.
455
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,880
I mean, we have to say that,
hey, today's environment is is
456
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,920
going to look a lot different
than the future, you know,
457
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:08,800
otherwise, yeah, you're catching
the falling knife.
458
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:14,360
But I don't think we mind as
much to, you know, be a little
459
00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:17,320
bit early because if we're
right, you know, we're probably
460
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,320
buying just as much on the, on
the early side of the bottom as
461
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:21,720
we are, you know, coming out of
it.
462
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,280
How, how do you think about the,
the changing incentive pricing
463
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,520
in uranium as well, because
that's sort of increased
464
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,920
dramatically over the past five
years is these restart projects
465
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,480
have have struggled to come
online and there's been delays
466
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,440
in, in new projects.
So what's your thinking around
467
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,800
that at the moment?
Yeah, I think it just it just
468
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,240
keeps marching higher.
I mean, you see the inflation,
469
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:48,760
you see all the on the CapEx
side, OpEx, the delays, you
470
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,080
know, where we used to think,
hey, 5060 looks pretty good.
471
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,160
Now you look at some of these
higher cost projects, they're
472
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,240
probably near to 80 or, or north
of that.
473
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,080
And, and we're kind of right
around there, right?
474
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,200
And so it's like, OK, well, you
can give the green light to some
475
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,240
of these projects, but then it's
just a timing issue of how long
476
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:05,600
it's going to take them to be
built.
477
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,080
And then we'll see if, if that's
truly what their break even is
478
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,320
when it when the production
comes on.
479
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,040
I think you saw that a lot in
copper where these guys said,
480
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,080
oh, you know, look at our deck
and you make, you know, those
481
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:20,080
great IRRS that $4.00 or 450 and
here we are at 4:50 and nobody's
482
00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,840
making any money.
So it's like way, you know, and
483
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:27,240
so look, I always think the
biases, I mean, it's mining
484
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,280
right there, cost overruns,
timing overruns.
485
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,840
And so you have to think
whatever your idea is of that
486
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,800
break even price, by the time
you get to the production, it's
487
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:37,840
probably going to be higher than
that.
488
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,160
And so I think it just continues
to creep higher.
489
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,440
I don't know, I mean, 80,
there's some companies that make
490
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,800
great money at 80 here.
And so that, that, and that kind
491
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,400
of goes back to what we were
just talking about, which is who
492
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,440
are the low cost suppliers?
Sure, they're not going to have
493
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,800
that crazy snap leverage of the
guy who you know, is break even
494
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,520
today and goes infinite profit
on the next dollar.
495
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:01,120
But we don't need, we can sleep
better at night, not not needing
496
00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:02,480
to worry about that kind of
stuff.
497
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,800
I, I, I think you can have a
little bit of that in your
498
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:06,320
portfolio.
But if you base load your
499
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,040
portfolio with just a really
high quality names that can make
500
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:12,760
a buck in any environment, I
think you're going to do well
501
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:14,920
over the long time, especially
if you're right on the on the
502
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,440
commodity price.
And so, you know, that's really
503
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,880
how our portfolio looks today
across all the different
504
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,240
commodities were.
And it's not like, and we had,
505
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,160
we do have, you know, some of
these more niche kind of
506
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,440
development stage companies, but
for the most part, it's, it's,
507
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,200
it's what you would, what you
would expect.
508
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,320
And so I think more of the value
is in saying, you know, when
509
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,120
should we be in these different
areas?
510
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,440
And I that's where it kind of
goes to that kind of short term
511
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,440
contrarianism versus the long
term, you know, real strong
512
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,760
fundamentals.
And if you can layer in enough
513
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:47,200
of these types of payouts so
that they kind of overlap each
514
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,040
other, you're not just having
your entire portfolio waiting
515
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:51,600
three years for everything to
hit at once.
516
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,120
You get this sort of sequential
payoff structure where you can
517
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,040
be harvesting in one area,
deploying in another area and it
518
00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,320
and it kind of smooths out the
volatility.
519
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:01,760
And so I think, you know, we
like to have things in our
520
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,120
portfolio that are currently
working that are about to work
521
00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:06,400
that, you know, might be a few
years from working, things that
522
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:07,880
are going down that we can keep
buying.
523
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:10,920
And so if you have a balance of
all of that, you should kind of
524
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,880
smooth it all out and then your
long term returns actually look
525
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,160
pretty good.
Let's talk about copper then,
526
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,120
Ryan, because because you, you
identify as a contrarian, but I
527
00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:21,280
think you've got a consensus.
You want copper.
528
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:24,320
What's that?
That it's going higher, Yeah.
529
00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:29,360
You know, the hardest thing
about being a contrarian is
530
00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:33,440
knowing when to allow the market
to catch up to.
531
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,560
You don't want to be a
contrarian for contrarian sake,
532
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,040
right?
I think our, and probably that's
533
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,560
been the case, is how do you
stay long enough at the party,
534
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,160
especially the more and more of
the return comes less from just
535
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,080
that valuation normalization and
more from how many people are
536
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,480
going to jump into the pool.
How high is this going to get?
537
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,920
How frothy is it going to get
and look yeah you probably want
538
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,560
to have a little bit for that
but it's harder to justify a
539
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:00,960
real solid weighting and
something with more and more of
540
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,840
that return component comes from
subjective things like that.
541
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,520
And so copper, yeah, maybe it is
consensus, you know, I don't, I
542
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:10,120
don't know.
I mean, I, I think copper looks
543
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,160
great here.
I think it's going to continue
544
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,240
to surprise to the upside,
especially like we were just
545
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,480
talking about all these guys
that are playing, Oh yeah, our
546
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,400
project still low cost and, and
look at this.
547
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,600
And then, you know, who's making
the money here, right?
548
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,000
And so I, I think you're going
to need well, well, I mean, this
549
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,080
is just kind of, it goes for a
lot of these commodities, but
550
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,640
the demand continues to grow.
Supply is, is pretty shaky for a
551
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,760
number of reasons.
And so that's just a recipe, I
552
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:36,520
think for continued higher
prices.
553
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:38,680
And it's great.
We love seeing these companies
554
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,080
come out and be like, oh, you
know, yeah, four 50s here, but
555
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:42,440
we're not really doing too well
there.
556
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,920
Maybe we need 5.
And then, you know, let alone
557
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,760
the, the, the Greenfield and,
you know, brownfield expansion
558
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,040
stuff.
I think you're going to need
559
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,440
higher copper prices.
And if anything, I think I mean
560
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:54,960
what, you know, what's the power
price up this year?
561
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,600
Nothing 1015%.
I mean, I, I think where it has
562
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,800
to go, you know, especially if
you're looking out a few years,
563
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,280
right, three years, five years,
10 years, we're going to need a
564
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,040
lot more copper.
I don't think the current price
565
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,120
is, is enough for that.
And so I mean, look, we've,
566
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,040
we've, we've placed our best.
We might be wrong.
567
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:12,160
Yeah, I don't know, maybe we're
wrong.
568
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,600
So that's fine.
I think people agree with us as
569
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:17,400
at least the ones that invest
with us agree with us.
570
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,800
And so, you know, and again,
it's we're not necessarily
571
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,360
needing to call for, you know,
this.
572
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,680
You remember it was a year or
two ago when they had all these
573
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,480
crazy call at 40,000, you know,
ton copper and all this stuff.
574
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:29,400
That's not us.
I mean, look, that'd be great if
575
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,200
it happened, but I think it
just, it has to go, you know, it
576
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:34,760
has to go higher than we are
today.
577
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,640
You know what, what's at 4:50?
I don't know, 5-6 I think would
578
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,840
be a nice price to, to really
stimulate some, some more
579
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,640
production.
But we still like the large low
580
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,960
cost sources of supply because
they're going to do well today.
581
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,480
I mean, and, and probably in
that environment too, you know,
582
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:53,040
we always like these situations
where you need the marginal
583
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,280
projects because that means that
the guys that are good projects,
584
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,320
I mean they're going to earn
that sort of bumper margin.
585
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,840
And so if you were to look
through our copper portfolio,
586
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,960
it's yeah, it's a lot of these
large, large low cost source
587
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,280
supply.
We talked about Philo last time
588
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,520
they got acquired by Lundin.
And so we still we still like
589
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:11,880
what they're doing down in the
Picuna.
590
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:14,280
Yeah, I think that's a perfect
example of how we look at things
591
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,760
is that's going to be 100 year
district.
592
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,360
I mean, it's going to take a ton
of capital.
593
00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:20,320
Who knows what the what the
break evens are going to be, but
594
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:24,040
it's very large, very high grade
BH PS in there now.
595
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,800
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised
if BHP ends up, you know, owning
596
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,400
the whole thing at some point.
You know, it's the Lundins have
597
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,480
done a very good job of, you
know, consolidating that whole
598
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,040
region, putting all the pieces
in place, kind of making sure
599
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:38,520
all the entities have the
different.
600
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,560
I mean, it really is nice to see
what they've done down there.
601
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,240
NGX royalty as well.
Like how?
602
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,000
Cool well, so all people think
hey, is that mean that they're.
603
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:48,960
Prepping themselves for I can
say that, yeah.
604
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,400
Lo Salados looks great with as
future feed for Casseronis,
605
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,080
right?
And Lundin stepped up.
606
00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,960
They exercised the option.
So it's like all these little
607
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,240
things in isolation, don't you
know, they don't show anything
608
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,000
but kind of an aggregate.
You can see them putting the
609
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:04,440
pieces together.
Yeah.
610
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,720
And then obviously the NGX
discovery is just.
611
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,160
I mean, it's kind of absurd.
Like the grades that they're
612
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,480
hitting there, I like.
You, I like your theory there as
613
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,360
well because, because remember
the talk about a potential
614
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,680
royalty spin out of, of Philo
kind of been the lead up and,
615
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:21,480
and presumably BHP did not have
any appetite for a royalty to be
616
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:23,640
part of that deal.
So if you need it, if you want
617
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,880
to create a, a royalty spin out
knowing that a, a consolidation
618
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,000
is coming, well, you got to do
it now as opposed to, to, to
619
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,560
wait for a, a bid to come.
So yeah, maybe that's.
620
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,240
Right.
And I think NGX is kind of in
621
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:38,360
the same place Filo was at a
year or two ago where they keep
622
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,520
putting out these barn burner
results and the market's like,
623
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,320
OK, well you know, yeah, we get
it.
624
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,360
You got a lot of high grade
stuff there.
625
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:46,960
I think people are more
concerned now, or at least the
626
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,040
market is with what is the
sequential path to development?
627
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,920
What are the entities involved
who swallows through, you know,
628
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,400
how, how, how are the pieces put
in place for this to actually
629
00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:57,680
get developed?
Because it's going to be, I
630
00:29:57,680 --> 00:29:59,080
mean, it's a whole district,
right?
631
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:03,160
It's going to be a massive multi
multi decade type of runway.
632
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,520
You know, our big question is,
does Lundin Mining want to keep
633
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,360
the Lundin name out there and
operate independently or you
634
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:12,320
know what?
BH PS made no secret of the fact
635
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,040
that they want to get bigger
into copper.
636
00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,600
Obviously they've taken on this
little toe hold there with the
637
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,280
JV that are doing on FILO.
I mean it's a natural and you
638
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:21,520
know what's the market cap
difference?
639
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,400
I think BHP is like 140 billion
and lending is 10.
640
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,120
I mean it would be an easy tuck
in for them.
641
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:28,840
The real question is what price
would they want to get?
642
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:34,080
And you know, how did the NGX
pieces come into play before or
643
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:35,400
after?
I mean, I think you do have to
644
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,720
get all that settled before you
get the kind of big development
645
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,080
picture.
But you know, that's really the
646
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,000
type, the type of stuff we look
for when we invest in because we
647
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,400
can sit, we know this is going
to be a multi year type of path.
648
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,720
We don't need to get too cute
trading out of these things.
649
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,600
We can say, hey, we'll probably,
I mean, the lending position we
650
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:54,720
have a lot of it's from
investing in FILO that we
651
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,760
inherited from the acquisition.
And so it's like, if we can just
652
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,560
continually roll these things up
and you know, 10 years from now,
653
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,000
we own some BHP.
I mean, I think that that
654
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,800
wouldn't be the worst outcome.
But you know, for now, it's
655
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:11,200
like, Hey, I think we can sleep
easy at night know, and this is
656
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:15,200
a pretty high grade, I mean
world class project and it's got
657
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,120
deep pockets behind it.
I mean, that's kind of a rarity
658
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,480
in the in the mining sector.
How do you stomach the, the
659
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:25,160
Argentina risk part of that?
And I guess more broadly, how
660
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,920
are you thinking more we've
separated supply chains and and
661
00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:32,200
a bifurcated world in in terms
of commodities?
662
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:35,160
Yeah.
I mean, hey, you, we're, we
663
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,040
don't, we're uncomfortable with
it.
664
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:38,480
I think we're uncomfortable with
a lot of things.
665
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,680
I think you have to kind of take
the good with the bad.
666
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:43,920
I mean, look, we own, we own
Alpha Man and 10, right.
667
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:48,040
So we definitely take
jurisdiction risk if we think
668
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,000
that the asset quality supports
it.
669
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,920
Look, you're always going to
take some sort of risk in your
670
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,640
investments, whether it's on the
jurisdiction side, whether it's
671
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,840
on the operational side.
You know, and we always make the
672
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,120
argument like, look, yeah, you
can be in a great jurisdiction
673
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,040
and have other problems here.
And do you really want a
674
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,760
marginal project just because
the jurisdiction's nice?
675
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,160
And so I think we kind of, and
when we build out these
676
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,840
portfolios, we want to have a
mix of these types of risk.
677
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,320
OK, Yeah, maybe we'll take some
elevated jurisdiction risk in
678
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,200
one area if we believe the asset
justifies it.
679
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:23,080
Or maybe we'll, you know, lower
our quality filter on a certain
680
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,720
project if we think, oh, it's
going to be a smooth path to
681
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,080
production.
And you know, there's no, none
682
00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:29,800
of those other things that we
have to worry about.
683
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,280
I think if you kind of build a
portfolio around all this stuff,
684
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:37,480
you can kind of mitigate some of
those idiosyncratic ones.
685
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,160
Look, Argentina looks like it's
going in the right direction
686
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,480
here.
You know, at least with the, you
687
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,560
know, kind of late overtures
you've heard the last maybe 6-12
688
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:51,320
months, you know, this whole the
Reggie, the kind of legislative
689
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,600
framework for foreign investment
I think is going the right
690
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,160
direction.
You know, that's another reason
691
00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:59,480
we like, you know, kind of doing
things like with the Lundeens
692
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,760
is, you know, you got pictures
of them with the president's
693
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:04,320
going back, you know, 40 years.
I think those types of
694
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:08,040
relationships really help.
It's probably a lot different if
695
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,520
you're some, you know, 2 bit
generator trying to poke holes
696
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:13,280
down there.
I mean, there's a, it's a much
697
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,520
longer path and you're probably
going to be more at the more at
698
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:19,400
the mercy of, of, of the
political rumblings than if you,
699
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:22,440
you know, have big half, then
you already have those sorts of
700
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:25,360
relationships.
Yeah, and you.
701
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:28,920
And you?
Mentioned the Congo and and Tin
702
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,760
and Alphamin there before, so
we've got to tuck into this one
703
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,400
because there's a a pretty
fiercely loyal fanbase out
704
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:36,800
there.
How are you thinking about the
705
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,920
tin market and the the evolution
in that market since we spoke a
706
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,240
year and a half ago?
Yeah.
707
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:45,280
Well, I mean it's.
You know, I mean, the tin price
708
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:47,600
has actually been pretty
resilient, holding around
709
00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:51,240
35,000.
I guess it is today, you know,
710
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,760
alpha man's one where gosh,
it's, it's hard to believe that
711
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:56,840
it's basically the same price it
was four years ago.
712
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:00,480
There's been a lot of volatility
for not a lot of movement there.
713
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:01,560
Some good dividends along the
way.
714
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:03,280
You do what you.
OK.
715
00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:04,360
So you've got the dividends.
Yeah.
716
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,000
And I, I and we've kind of
played it well, you know, how
717
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,000
can I have a core position that
we've traded around?
718
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,360
We're, we're very large in it a
few years ago, kind of after
719
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:16,760
that first ten wash out, you
know, and so, you know, we've,
720
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,320
we've, we've done well there.
But I think our, the problem we
721
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:22,880
have with that one is it's
literally one of the best mining
722
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,600
assets in the entire world.
And no one really talks about
723
00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,000
the mining asset.
I mean, it's all about the, all
724
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,280
about the political situation.
You know, I, I follow the, the
725
00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,920
chat around and I mean, like
APHD in international relations,
726
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:37,639
just a sort of, you know, track
along what are the latest peace
727
00:34:37,639 --> 00:34:39,600
talks and this which rebel
groups doing what?
728
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,280
And so, you know, it's kind of a
distraction.
729
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,159
And I wonder if that would
prevent it ever from getting
730
00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:47,840
sort of a, a valuation re rate
or are we just going to have to
731
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,000
make all of our money from the
dividends?
732
00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:52,040
And remember there were a big
shareholder there now.
733
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:54,760
As well, which has been one of
the big changes in the in the
734
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,360
past few months.
Yeah, so.
735
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,840
We, it was, you know, Denim,
which was a private equity
736
00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:02,560
company that had been in there
for a while.
737
00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:06,280
You know, they, I mean for a
while, it's 10/10/15 years.
738
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:10,040
I mean, since the thing was kind
of built, you know, I, I think
739
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:11,680
that was getting long in the
tooth there.
740
00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:13,880
And they, they want to do a
continuation vehicle.
741
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,000
I think that had been announced.
And you know, kind of right
742
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,840
around that time, you, you had
all the troubles start to pick
743
00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:21,040
up.
I mean, this was maybe end of
744
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,760
last year.
And so maybe it went from a
745
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:26,560
handful of parties down to, you
know, yeah, just the just the
746
00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:28,560
Middle Eastern, the Middle
Eastern fund.
747
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:33,200
Which is look.
They don't normally have.
748
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:38,040
A lot of public companies.
And so for us it's like, OK,
749
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,320
well, are they going to make a
run for the for the rest of this
750
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,640
company?
You know, it was pretty nice
751
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:44,520
them to, they were able to pick
up that block.
752
00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:46,800
I think there was some concern,
hey, are they going to, you
753
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:49,000
know, screw the minority
shareholders or are they going
754
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,960
to continue the dividends?
And then, you know, we got a
755
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,560
nice answer to that about a
month or so ago when they when
756
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:57,000
they paid the interim dividend.
So it kind of goes back to what
757
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,160
I'm saying, you know, are we
ever going to get a rewrite on
758
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,040
this thing or is the political
overhand going to be just
759
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:06,400
language there and we're just
going to have to collect our
760
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,000
return via via dividends?
I don't know.
761
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,280
Whereas it used to be a very
large position for us a few
762
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:14,920
years ago when, you know, Tim
was really washed out.
763
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,000
I think it's more kind of middle
of the pack now.
764
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:20,480
We think it's a a great, you
know, risk reward, but there's
765
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:23,920
obviously some challenges to
look, like I said earlier, I
766
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:25,680
like when there's a lot of ways
to win.
767
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,960
If one of the ways to win is a
re rate, multiple re rate, I
768
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,200
wonder if that that way to win
has gotten a little bit more
769
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:35,040
challenged.
Not to saying that it can't get
770
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:36,600
there.
I I think especially since, you
771
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,520
know, after earlier this year,
they shut the mine down.
772
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:42,200
You know, there were all these
concerns and it looks like the
773
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:44,800
international community,
especially the US stepped in and
774
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:47,960
kind of give this implicit
security guarantee.
775
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,080
Look, that was enough to get
things back up and running, but
776
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:56,720
is that really enough to kind of
a swage investors fears and and
777
00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:58,040
let them put a higher multiple
on this?
778
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,560
I I don't know yet.
You know, the other problem is
779
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,920
it's not that liquid.
We we talked to the management
780
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:07,240
team pretty regularly and it's,
you know, hey, can you guys do a
781
00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:11,320
another listing US Australia
something they don't need to
782
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:13,840
raise money right?
And so there's no real there's
783
00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:17,040
no real reason for them to come
out and, you know, introduce new
784
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:19,440
shares to the market.
So you're kind of in this limbo
785
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:21,480
of, yeah, it doesn't really
trade that much.
786
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,560
Most of the floats locked up.
How do you get new institutions
787
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:26,400
in there if there's no stock for
sale?
788
00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:29,520
I mean, really that the thing
that that that denim transaction
789
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:32,200
was kind of the the big
transaction that you could, that
790
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:34,600
you could talk the potentially
have there had been some
791
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:36,800
speculation before that that
maybe denim wouldn't exit
792
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:38,720
completely.
They would take, you know, 10 or
793
00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:41,480
20% of their stake and float
that to get your secondary
794
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,440
listing.
But.
795
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:48,200
You know, we'll see, I think.
At least with the latest news on
796
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,880
on the dividend, it looks like
the new owners are going to be
797
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:54,680
shareholder friendly, but we'll
see.
798
00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:58,280
Again, it's whereas it was a
very large position for us a few
799
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,240
years ago.
I think it's kind of more sized
800
00:38:01,240 --> 00:38:03,920
appropriately for, you know, the
risk reward here.
801
00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:06,600
How funny that he remembers the.
Fully funded capital raises, you
802
00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:09,320
know what we talked about even
more frequently than that with
803
00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:11,480
Adriatic Sandvik ground support
we.
804
00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:12,920
Did bring up Sandvik.
Ground support.
805
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,080
The perfect segue was always an
Adriatic segment mate because
806
00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:20,000
Sandvik ground support are
supporting ground and Patriotic
807
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,200
had ground that needed support
so it was just a no brainer.
808
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,360
This is true.
Sandvik, a Swedish company,
809
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,640
mixed with DSI, the Champions
from down under here to create
810
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,800
Sandvik Ground Support, the
global champions of ground
811
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,400
support.
So if you're a underground miner
812
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,720
in any neck of the woods, you
should really get on the phone
813
00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:38,480
and give Derek her to call,
shouldn't you mate?
814
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,320
If you've got ground that needs.
Supported or ground that should
815
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,680
be supported or just ground in
general and you know, it needs
816
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:47,320
some support for safety. 10 bit
ground support have the answer.
817
00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:50,080
It might come in the form of
ultimate, it might come in the
818
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:52,880
form of of some of the the great
chemical products that they have
819
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:54,400
out there.
It might come in the form.
820
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:56,840
Of the digital systems that
they've got in place, you can
821
00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,520
just hook these things on on the
end of your sort of bolts there
822
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:01,360
and you get a great
understanding.
823
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:03,720
All these things just hook in
with your phone straight away.
824
00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:06,960
Or it could come in the form of
the latest app that they've got
825
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,560
to Chuck in your orders.
They are making your life as an
826
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:12,320
underground operator easier
every day.
827
00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:14,840
I reckon they can support water.
You reckon?
828
00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:17,280
I wouldn't put it past this team
mate.
829
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:19,560
Because we know amongst
everything else we just said
830
00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:22,440
they're, they're at the cutting
edge of R&D when it comes to
831
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,160
underground mining technologies.
So I wouldn't put it past them,
832
00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:26,800
mate.
Absolute no brainer go.
833
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:28,760
Stand the ground support back to
Brian.
834
00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:32,000
I'm I'm I'm very curious Brian,
like if we rattle off a bunch of
835
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:37,560
commodities, just just give it a
A11TO1011 being like least like
836
00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:41,200
no, no, no attractiveness
whatsoever to to buy anything in
837
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:43,160
that space.
And 10 being like, yeah, trying
838
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,200
to trying to buy, trying to get
a full allocation into this
839
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,760
commodity.
I like this.
840
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,760
Let's do it.
Cobalt.
841
00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:56,240
You know I.
I'm not, I'm not the smartest
842
00:39:56,240 --> 00:39:59,840
guy in cobalt.
I don't even know what number
843
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:01,960
I'd give it.
I mean, I know that the there's
844
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:06,120
been a lot of supply ramping up.
What was that one cobalt project
845
00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:07,560
in the US that they were trying
to flow?
846
00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:10,760
That was a disaster.
You know, I'd give it maybe a
847
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,000
two or three with the caveat
that I don't, I don't really
848
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:14,800
know, don't, don't follow too
closely.
849
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:16,800
How about?
Silver.
850
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:22,360
Hey, I like silver.
Maybe better than gold, you
851
00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:25,200
know, I'd, I'll say maybe 6-7 or
higher.
852
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,600
You know, Adriatic was the other
one that that that got taken out
853
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,840
for us, which was a nice
validation because, you know,
854
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:32,600
obviously.
Nothing got.
855
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:34,600
Delayed, delayed, delayed.
You guys, you know, rightfully
856
00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:38,040
joked about all the fully funded
raises they did you.
857
00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:40,240
Know hey we were.
In that for several years and
858
00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:43,760
did well and it was nice to to
get the take out there you know
859
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:44,840
and.
That was always the joke with.
860
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:46,760
Them was they should change
their name to Adriatic Silver
861
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:48,840
because all the silver companies
have these crazy valuation
862
00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:50,160
premiums that they were trading
at.
863
00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:55,680
So, yeah, like I I like silver
of the preface metals the most
864
00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:58,320
because look, my problem always
with gold has been what should
865
00:40:58,320 --> 00:40:59,920
the price be?
It's not like any other
866
00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:02,600
commodity where you can use a
cost curve and and go marginal
867
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:04,600
cost.
It's like, you know, a lot of
868
00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:06,640
companies are making huge money
right here.
869
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:08,080
What should the price of gold
be?
870
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,080
I don't know, you know, probably
higher just because on the
871
00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:12,800
margin all the things are moving
in its favor.
872
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:17,040
But what's to say it should be
3500 versus 3004 thousand more
873
00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:18,920
or less?
I mean, I think with silver
874
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:20,880
there is more of that industrial
component to it.
875
00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:23,520
So you can really look at at
demand and there's going to be
876
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:28,680
some real consumption there.
And you know to you see the guys
877
00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:30,800
that talk about the gold silver
ratio and all that stuff.
878
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,520
I mean, if you believe in that
voodoo, you probably.
879
00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:35,280
Probably should see silver.
Do a bit of a catch up.
880
00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:37,280
I I think the gold bugs would
hate if the ketchup came the
881
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:38,880
other direction and gold came
down to it.
882
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,240
But you know, I would expect
silver to to do very well there
883
00:41:42,240 --> 00:41:44,280
and it's it's still a big a big
part of our portfolio.
884
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:48,160
Did did you top up your?
Position in in silver with the
885
00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,280
Adriatic, you know, the, the
cash component of that sort of
886
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:55,600
pivot that into some more silver
plays out there, you know we
887
00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:57,640
have.
Some that we've been picking
888
00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:58,560
the.
Tire, I mean the problem.
889
00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:00,840
Is, is there aren't a lot of
silver companies, right?
890
00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:02,360
They have silver in their name,
but they're mostly gold
891
00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:03,960
companies.
They have some by product.
892
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:06,120
And so we've looked at that, you
know, who's got the most
893
00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:09,600
exposure on a revenue basis or a
profit basis and you know, kind
894
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,360
of the sensitivity to that.
And so we have some, some
895
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,040
smaller cap plays there.
You know, I think, look, we're
896
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:17,760
happy to inherit the Dundee.
I mean, nothing's just a machine
897
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:19,960
or what, what a great operator
they are.
898
00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:23,120
So we basically taken that.
And, you know, I think on the
899
00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:25,480
margin, we're we're always on
the lookout for it.
900
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:29,200
But again, just, and I guess
precious metals in general, it's
901
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:31,240
not, it's not as contrarian as
it was.
902
00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:34,200
We've been in in gold and silver
for a long time, you know, over
903
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:37,640
over a decade, you know, you
couldn't really give it away
904
00:42:37,720 --> 00:42:39,480
back then.
And now it's, you know, one of
905
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,720
the best performers of the year
and everyone wants to to jump in
906
00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:45,000
there.
So, you know, kind of the
907
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:48,240
contrarian me gets a little
nervous about that sort of shift
908
00:42:48,240 --> 00:42:50,640
in attitudes.
But I still think these things
909
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:53,800
have a have a long way to go.
And yeah, if I had to pick one,
910
00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:57,520
probably silver or gold in a
yeah, six or seven on a higher
911
00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:01,400
sink.
Sink.
912
00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,120
I don't know.
I mean, look, it's it was part
913
00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:09,280
of the Adriatic cases.
I have to like it but.
914
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:12,440
I you know I don't I.
Don't really know it that well.
915
00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:14,560
It's not something that we've
kind of followed to in depth
916
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,200
because we've really only owned
it companies where it's kind of
917
00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:20,280
a by product or we haven't
really looked to target it
918
00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:21,640
directly.
And maybe now I'm done, I'm
919
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:25,000
hearing myself say all this, it
probably is worth worth a look.
920
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:27,280
But again, I think.
It's one of those.
921
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:31,600
Things we probably wouldn't
target directly, you know, and
922
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:35,440
I, I view it kind of kind of
more niche, you know, I mean.
923
00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:36,760
The one that.
We're looking at this that you
924
00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:39,600
guys probably know is niobium,
which obviously the, the, the
925
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:41,560
big discovery there, that was a
few years ago.
926
00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:44,240
We, we weren't that one.
We we quite like that.
927
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:46,560
Really.
You hold some WA.
928
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:48,160
One.
What's that?
929
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:50,400
WA1 Ding Ding Ding.
Yeah.
930
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:51,560
Yeah.
Well, I believe I I don't.
931
00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:53,160
Know how many other niobium
companies there are?
932
00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,560
But, you know, I, I feel like
we, we kind of came on our radar
933
00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:58,480
with that big discovery a few
years ago.
934
00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:01,920
And yeah, it's, you know,
there's a lot that one's funny
935
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:04,080
because obviously it kind of
fits what we're looking for,
936
00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:06,840
which are these really high
quality ore bodies, You know,
937
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,920
they're called a tier 0.
It, it, it really is kind of a,
938
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:14,400
an anomaly, A geologic anomaly.
And, and the questions are not
939
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:16,440
necessarily about the quality of
the deposit.
940
00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:18,840
It's, you know, OK, it's kind of
a weird market, right?
941
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:22,080
The Brazilians have 80 or 85% of
that one private company.
942
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:24,120
And, you know, how much can they
flex up?
943
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:25,920
How much can the market actually
absorb?
944
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:28,360
I mean I.
Think it looks good on a on.
945
00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:31,320
Kind of on a mine plan basis,
but you know, can they get an
946
00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:32,760
off take?
I think that's probably the next
947
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:35,120
step for them to to really de
risk it.
948
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:39,040
But yeah, I mean, as far as
niche medals go, that's probably
949
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:42,680
that's probably the one that's,
you know, least, least talked
950
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,840
about, you know, some of the
other ones that cobalt look, I
951
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:48,160
we always say you can't kiss all
the girls, right?
952
00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:49,720
I think you have to pick your
spots.
953
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:53,240
We have the luxury.
Of not needing to form an
954
00:44:53,240 --> 00:44:56,880
opinion on everything.
I think that's kind of a tough
955
00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:58,720
concept for people to get their
head around.
956
00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:01,520
Everyone thinks, OK, I, I need
to know, you know, every single
957
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:03,160
thing.
And I got to have a, a strong
958
00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:04,840
opinion.
Look, I'll, I'll be the first to
959
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:06,920
tell you I, I don't know, I
don't follow, think that
960
00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:08,440
closely.
I don't follow Cobalt that
961
00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:10,480
closely.
And so I'm not going to pretend
962
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:11,960
that I do.
I'm just going to, you know, I
963
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:13,840
can talk to you about the stuff
that I, that I do follow.
964
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,640
But you know, for the most part,
look, we try to keep kind of a
965
00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:20,600
broad overview on, on, on a lot
of different things.
966
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:23,280
And it's just our view in
general that, I mean, pull up
967
00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:26,480
the periodic table, there's a
lot of those boxes on there that
968
00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:29,360
are going to be in short supply,
you know?
969
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:31,720
And so we do a.
Work on a lot of different ones,
970
00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:34,400
but I think you can only own so
many stocks.
971
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:37,000
We don't run like 102 hundred
days in the portfolio.
972
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:40,800
So we try to find things where,
you know, it's got kind of ticks
973
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,720
all the boxes that we look for
and you know, we might be have
974
00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:46,760
four or five different medals at
a time a bit out of our.
975
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:48,520
Wheelhouse.
But how are you thinking about
976
00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:53,000
energy more broadly?
Well.
977
00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:58,000
You know, I, I think it's funny,
we don't own a lot of energy and
978
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:00,760
it's kind of ironic because I
actually started as a, as an
979
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:05,080
energy analyst, oil and gas a
long time ago.
980
00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:09,160
But you know, I, I think the
difference and why we prefer
981
00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:13,240
mining versus energy is just
the, the lead time to bring on
982
00:46:13,240 --> 00:46:16,640
new supply.
I think it's very difficult to
983
00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:18,320
bring on supply of metals,
right?
984
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:21,120
It's, it's years to get
permitting to build a mine and
985
00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:24,480
and do all that sort of thing.
I think with oil and gas, I
986
00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:26,960
mean, you can, you can drill
wells in a in a pretty short
987
00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:29,640
time, you know?
And.
988
00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:33,560
So really it's more of AI think
the fact that there's a easier
989
00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:37,440
supply response leads us to get
less enthusiastic about
990
00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:40,800
potential price spikes.
Whereas in some of these niche
991
00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:46,000
metals, you know, if there ever
is like a supply demand driven
992
00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:49,880
increase in the price is not
going to get fixed that easily.
993
00:46:50,240 --> 00:46:52,280
And I think there is this period
of time where you're going to
994
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:55,000
have scarcity pricing and you
can earn those those bumper
995
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:58,640
profits.
That said, you know, spend too
996
00:46:58,640 --> 00:47:01,280
much time looking at at oil and
gas wells to ignore it.
997
00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:03,800
And so I think that there
probably is some opportunity
998
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,040
there.
You know what I what I kind of
999
00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,800
like in oil and gas now, you
know, we own some Canadian
1000
00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:11,840
natural, which is like an oil
sands type play.
1001
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:16,800
I like that business model of
not necessarily blown and going
1002
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:19,040
on this treadmill the shale guys
are on where you got to keep
1003
00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:20,680
plowing money back into the
ground.
1004
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,680
You know, for the big oil stands
producers that they spent all
1005
00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:26,120
that money.
Now it's, you know, kind of it's
1006
00:47:26,120 --> 00:47:29,240
just let the the free cash flow
roll and you know, very minimal
1007
00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:32,160
ongoing CapEx and a a flat
production profile.
1008
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:34,720
And then you get to kind of the
natural gas sticker of the
1009
00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:37,600
Canadian gas ever, you know,
gets off the floor.
1010
00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:41,640
And so that's the way we kind of
look at it is anything, and I
1011
00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:43,680
guess you could even lump copper
in there, anything where there's
1012
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:48,000
more of a of a generic, you
know, tied to the economy type
1013
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:50,400
of beta and you know, you're
going to get whipped around.
1014
00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:52,760
It's it's less niche.
It's not uranium, it's not some
1015
00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:55,360
of these things that have their
own real type fundamentals.
1016
00:47:55,720 --> 00:47:59,560
I think we want to approach
those areas like having
1017
00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:02,440
something where it's kind of
tangential to it or you're not
1018
00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:04,600
just OK, it's a call on the oil
price.
1019
00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:07,520
We're calling a gas price, you
know, I think natural.
1020
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:09,320
Gas looks.
Interesting here it's been kind
1021
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:12,520
of washed out and you know,
especially given all the demand
1022
00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:15,680
for energy, for AI electricity,
I don't think we're going to
1023
00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:19,320
solve it all, you know, with new
plants in the short term, we're
1024
00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:21,600
probably going to still be
burning coal, still be burning
1025
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:23,400
natural gas.
And of the two, you know,
1026
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:26,240
natural gas seems to be the one
that people think is cleaner.
1027
00:48:26,240 --> 00:48:29,000
So you'll probably see more gas
demand there, especially with
1028
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:31,600
the whole LNG thing.
I mean, we've, we've done well
1029
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:33,600
with some LNG adjacent type
investments.
1030
00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:37,560
And so you know, I, I think
within oil and gas, we kind of
1031
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:41,960
pick our spots, but it's, it's
kind of a, it's a smaller part
1032
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:45,000
of the portfolio and much more
so than than mining just because
1033
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:46,840
of that whole supply response
thing.
1034
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:49,920
Yeah.
That that that sort of makes
1035
00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:53,000
sense and.
If we we rattle off the last
1036
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:56,480
card and kind of couple the last
basket of metals, I'm curious to
1037
00:48:56,840 --> 00:48:58,800
hear your thoughts about some of
the bulks.
1038
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:02,320
So you mentioned coal before,
but do you take any interest in
1039
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:08,320
iron ore or aluminium?
I mean not not as much I I.
1040
00:49:08,320 --> 00:49:11,480
Think again, those are kind of
the ones that are more tied to
1041
00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:16,360
just general economic activity
levels where, you know, I don't
1042
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:18,960
I'm not going to have a smarter
view than than someone that
1043
00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:21,320
stares at it all day.
And so I think it's it's harder
1044
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:23,920
to get an edge there.
Yeah, maybe you can kind of time
1045
00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:29,080
and, and in and out a little bit
better and you think then make
1046
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:31,320
some money.
But I think of the knowledge
1047
00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:35,880
curve is is so steep there.
And again, why do I need why do
1048
00:49:35,880 --> 00:49:39,640
I need the headache of of of
trying to understand that we
1049
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:42,840
look, I understand enough of it
as it fits in sort of the
1050
00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:45,440
overall picture of, you know,
iron is steel, the coal, what's
1051
00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:48,160
needed and all of that.
But you know, am I going to make
1052
00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:50,880
the smartest call on on where
the bottom and iron is or where
1053
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:52,120
it's going to go?
Probably not.
1054
00:49:52,720 --> 00:49:55,800
I think, you know, we go a
little bit more niche than that,
1055
00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:59,440
but at the same time not so
niche where, you know, some
1056
00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:01,520
metal that we never hear of and
there's three stocks and they
1057
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:03,120
they trade, you know, 10 bucks a
day.
1058
00:50:06,080 --> 00:50:08,000
Makes makes a lot of sense,
Brian, it's been.
1059
00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:10,480
Been a privilege to to pick your
brain is there is there anything
1060
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:13,360
on your mind lately that you
haven't had the chance to to
1061
00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:16,520
talk through so far but you kind
of just want to show I'm trying
1062
00:50:16,520 --> 00:50:18,040
to think I.
Mean, I think we had all the
1063
00:50:18,040 --> 00:50:21,960
main stuff.
You know, it's really, you know,
1064
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:24,320
where we're at right now is,
yeah, uranium's done.
1065
00:50:24,320 --> 00:50:25,680
Well, we're still in a little
bit of it.
1066
00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:29,120
I think probably copper would be
our biggest metal that we're in.
1067
00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:33,240
Just because there's so many.
More ways to play it, you know,
1068
00:50:33,240 --> 00:50:35,520
I mean 10's a tough one.
I'm surprised you didn't ask
1069
00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:38,680
about medals X because I know
that's a big on the on the 10
1070
00:50:38,680 --> 00:50:40,360
side there.
You know, I need to get your
1071
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:41,880
opinion whether you think
they're ever going to get the
1072
00:50:42,280 --> 00:50:43,720
get the cash back to the
shareholders.
1073
00:50:43,720 --> 00:50:46,240
But I'm getting more, I'm
getting more comfortable with.
1074
00:50:46,240 --> 00:50:48,880
That capital allocation, yeah,
Ding, Ding, Ding on, on medals
1075
00:50:50,480 --> 00:50:52,200
that buy.
Back bid at $0.40 is probably
1076
00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:53,920
still sitting out there.
I'd love to see them raise that
1077
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:56,200
a little bit, you know?
And now they're.
1078
00:50:56,480 --> 00:50:59,880
Wasn't it you that went to the
Yeah, I, I did.
1079
00:50:59,920 --> 00:51:02,480
I missed the one this year, but
yeah, I went the year before.
1080
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:06,880
I I, yeah, I it's always going
to be a funky company and it's
1081
00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:09,160
not for everyone.
But the capital allocation,
1082
00:51:09,160 --> 00:51:11,400
which which I was once pretty
scathing of.
1083
00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:14,360
Like I'm, I'm, I'm a lot more
comfortable with it these days.
1084
00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:17,560
And I think, I think it will go
on better over time for a
1085
00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:18,920
company that's.
Not a fund, I mean they've.
1086
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:23,120
Done well, you know, buildings,
different companies, it's fine.
1087
00:51:23,120 --> 00:51:25,280
I mean, I, I think the, you
know, the world's been clamoring
1088
00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:27,560
for A10 ETF.
And so if it turns out to be
1089
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,320
metals X and maybe that's the
way to go and this stock's done
1090
00:51:30,640 --> 00:51:33,680
pretty well this year.
I I I still don't know the like.
1091
00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:35,400
Yeah.
I mean, you can interpret that
1092
00:51:35,400 --> 00:51:39,080
in a few different ways, Like
one is 1 is 1 interpretation is
1093
00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:41,280
they're just land banking,
future development projects
1094
00:51:41,280 --> 00:51:43,920
which will actually prevent
their development ultimately.
1095
00:51:45,040 --> 00:51:48,040
Yeah, well, and I look.
I think in.
1096
00:51:48,040 --> 00:51:50,920
Uranium, we kind of saw some
people do that a while ago and
1097
00:51:50,920 --> 00:51:54,520
we got laughed at for it.
And if, if, if it plays out the
1098
00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:56,920
next five years, like the last
five years in uranium, we're all
1099
00:51:56,920 --> 00:51:58,960
of a sudden you get a re rate on
these things and that there's,
1100
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:02,680
you know, all these 20 million,
$50 million projects becoming
1101
00:52:02,680 --> 00:52:05,080
the money because the tin price
goes up a bunch.
1102
00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:07,160
Well, they might look very smart
for doing that.
1103
00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:10,320
The real question is.
Is is is that their real?
1104
00:52:10,320 --> 00:52:12,440
Intention or you know what is
it?
1105
00:52:12,480 --> 00:52:16,000
I think that's the problem is,
you know, with without any sort
1106
00:52:16,000 --> 00:52:19,960
of really explicit capital
allocation framework, you're
1107
00:52:19,960 --> 00:52:21,880
kind of at the mercy of just
guessing at it.
1108
00:52:22,200 --> 00:52:24,640
But you know, in the meantime,
it's, you know, it's done pretty
1109
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:26,440
well.
It's pushing close to the kind
1110
00:52:26,440 --> 00:52:29,200
of the, you know, five year
highs that it hit, you know,
1111
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:32,520
several years ago.
And so I think if it only trades
1112
00:52:32,520 --> 00:52:36,360
as a proxy for the 10 price in
the meantime, we'd be very
1113
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:37,760
happy.
And then, yeah, you get a little
1114
00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:39,920
bit of a bonus if they pay you
back on that.
1115
00:52:39,920 --> 00:52:42,400
But really not.
I think we hit on most of the
1116
00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:44,880
things.
I mean, yeah, copper that's
1117
00:52:44,880 --> 00:52:47,840
probably our biggest one.
And again, it's it's a lot of
1118
00:52:47,840 --> 00:52:49,840
the I don't know if I'd call
them household names, but we
1119
00:52:49,840 --> 00:52:53,160
like the mid tiers kind of the
ten $15 billion caps, you know,
1120
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:55,960
like I don't know that has a
very high quality project.
1121
00:52:56,280 --> 00:52:58,760
I think you can do well finding
these things.
1122
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:01,000
I mean, obviously they had their
troubles with the mine issues
1123
00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:03,720
earlier this year.
In our experience, those have
1124
00:53:03,720 --> 00:53:07,320
been great times to to, you
know, pick off some, some shares
1125
00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:10,320
of a longer term story because
whatever the short term issues
1126
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:12,720
are that that people are
concerned with and then, you
1127
00:53:12,720 --> 00:53:14,360
know, the rest of it.
I mean, I think we're, we're
1128
00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:16,280
actually finding some
interesting ideas outside of
1129
00:53:16,280 --> 00:53:20,680
mining that actually were we got
let into by doing the research
1130
00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:22,080
on mining.
You start researching all these
1131
00:53:22,080 --> 00:53:24,720
niche metals and you see the
applications that go into and
1132
00:53:24,720 --> 00:53:26,000
you Start learning about the
applications.
1133
00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:26,920
You're like, Oh, no, wait a
minute.
1134
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:29,240
Some of these interesting
technologies, kind of the
1135
00:53:29,240 --> 00:53:32,440
forefront of tech, whether it's
aerospace or, you know, lasers,
1136
00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:35,000
all this kind of crazy stuff.
It's like, OK, there's some
1137
00:53:35,000 --> 00:53:37,600
interesting companies that are,
you know, almost picks and
1138
00:53:37,600 --> 00:53:40,080
shovels that kind of going in
those applications where I, I
1139
00:53:40,080 --> 00:53:42,600
would almost consider the metals
as a pick and shovel play into
1140
00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:43,880
some of those applications as
well.
1141
00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:46,600
And so, you know, it's a lot
going on.
1142
00:53:46,600 --> 00:53:50,040
We don't do a lot of these these
podcasts because the stuff
1143
00:53:50,040 --> 00:53:52,520
doesn't really change, you know,
from week to week.
1144
00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:53,880
If you think about it, it's the
same story.
1145
00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:55,560
You can tell them for very many
years.
1146
00:53:55,560 --> 00:53:57,960
And now it just, you know, some
of the stuff starts to work.
1147
00:53:57,960 --> 00:54:00,000
I'd be like, Oh my gosh, you
know, not as dumb as a book.
1148
00:54:00,280 --> 00:54:03,440
So it's like, OK, real question.
And I think that was a great
1149
00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:06,000
questions about the contrarian
stuff, because that's really
1150
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:07,880
what we're doing is looking at
the stuff that, you know, the
1151
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:10,240
seeds that we planted a few
years ago that are all of a
1152
00:54:10,240 --> 00:54:12,120
sudden bearing fruit.
And now it's like, OK, if you
1153
00:54:12,120 --> 00:54:14,640
want to trim, trim some of these
apples off a tree and make a
1154
00:54:14,640 --> 00:54:17,080
pie, like what's the what's the
next area we're going to go
1155
00:54:17,080 --> 00:54:18,040
into?
And I think it's some of those
1156
00:54:18,040 --> 00:54:21,880
ones like a coal or a lithium
where, you know, people hate it
1157
00:54:21,880 --> 00:54:24,480
right now, but you know, you can
make a picture that maybe 3-5
1158
00:54:24,480 --> 00:54:27,200
years from now it's different, I
think.
1159
00:54:27,440 --> 00:54:30,760
I think you summarized it well.
Perhaps when we last spoke by
1160
00:54:30,760 --> 00:54:33,200
saying if we're not talking
about this stuff in five years
1161
00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:36,640
time, we've kind of done our job
well, hopefully.
1162
00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:39,800
It's because we.
Harvested that again and not and
1163
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:40,840
you're.
Completely wrong about it.
1164
00:54:40,840 --> 00:54:42,080
But no, that's exactly what we
said.
1165
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:45,680
You know, look, we, I mean, we
run a few different strategies
1166
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:49,520
kind of our, our, our, you know,
more wider 1 is, is about half,
1167
00:54:49,840 --> 00:54:52,880
50% in, in, in metals and
mining, which is a huge
1168
00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:54,960
overweight for, you know,
anybody, right.
1169
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:58,360
And so we tell people, yeah,
look, this is where we are
1170
00:54:58,360 --> 00:54:59,680
today.
That's where we see the value.
1171
00:54:59,680 --> 00:55:02,800
But yeah, five years from now,
I'd love nothing better than not
1172
00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:05,880
own any of this stuff because it
means that the valuations, you
1173
00:55:05,880 --> 00:55:08,160
know, really did what we thought
they would do and we captured
1174
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:10,880
all that latent value and we're
on to the next, on to the next
1175
00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:13,000
area.
And so, you know, I, I think at
1176
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:15,440
least with mining, though,
because it feeds into so many
1177
00:55:15,440 --> 00:55:18,200
different areas, I think there's
a long.
1178
00:55:18,200 --> 00:55:20,320
Runway ahead and so you know I
mean.
1179
00:55:20,320 --> 00:55:22,440
Look, we, we said the same thing
about uranium, but then you get
1180
00:55:22,440 --> 00:55:24,680
these, these these short time
periods where there's a frenzy
1181
00:55:24,680 --> 00:55:26,400
and you get this quick valuation
re rate.
1182
00:55:26,440 --> 00:55:28,960
I, I think maybe you'll see that
in some of these other areas,
1183
00:55:29,880 --> 00:55:31,600
you know, and then we keep.
Kind of hopping.
1184
00:55:31,600 --> 00:55:35,040
Around to where we see short
term weakness, long term
1185
00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:37,160
strength.
I mean, when those run out,
1186
00:55:37,480 --> 00:55:39,200
yeah, maybe it's something
completely different.
1187
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:41,440
You guys won't invite me back
anymore because I don't need
1188
00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:45,080
mining stocks.
I'm sure you'll get a call up
1189
00:55:45,080 --> 00:55:47,440
in.
In a year or so's time, Brian to
1190
00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:49,840
to check in on all these, but
appreciate you making the time
1191
00:55:49,840 --> 00:55:52,480
and and joining us and chatting
about the portfolio.
1192
00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:53,440
Thanks, bro.
Thank you.
1193
00:55:54,840 --> 00:55:56,760
Fantastic mate, I love.
Chatting with Brian, I love
1194
00:55:56,760 --> 00:55:58,320
chatting with generalist
investors.
1195
00:55:58,320 --> 00:55:59,800
I love chatting with
contrarians.
1196
00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:02,480
So it's always great to sort of
share the the thoughts of these
1197
00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:06,240
smart people on money of mine.
And it's all possible thanks to
1198
00:56:06,240 --> 00:56:09,440
our fantastic partners sand big
ground support in the show, as
1199
00:56:09,440 --> 00:56:12,920
well as focus the platform by
market tech and imark.
1200
00:56:12,920 --> 00:56:15,560
Get your tickets.
Hoodoo money minus hoodoo.
1201
00:56:16,840 --> 00:56:18,520
Now remember.
I'm an idiot.
1202
00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:21,240
JD is an idiot.
If you thought any of this was
1203
00:56:21,240 --> 00:56:23,760
anything other than
entertainment, you're an idiot
1204
00:56:24,120 --> 00:56:25,320
and you need to read out a
disclaimer.