Navigating Public Markets & Critical Minerals with Nick Davis

In this episode, we chat to Nick Davis from Haynes Boone, a leading adviser to AIM-listed mining and natural resources companies. We discuss what mining companies need to get right when accessing the public markets, how geopolitics and critical minerals are changing the investment landscape, and why AIM continues to play an important role in funding growth-stage mining companies. Nick also shares lessons the mining sector can learn from other industries and what management teams should be focusing on to attract capital and create long-term value.  KEY TAKEAWAYS AIM Market Regulatory Shift: Recent rule updates have streamlined listing requirements in London, making AIM an increasingly attractive platform for dual-listed growth-stage mining companies. Geopolitics & Critical Minerals: Supply chain security and defense demands—particularly around metals like tungsten, lithium, and copper—are bringing Western governments directly into project funding via debt, equity, and offtake support. Blended Financing Structures: Public equity remains central, but modern junior and mid-cap miners are increasingly combining equity with government grants, royalty arrangements, and strategic corporate offtakes. Adopting Tech-Style Storytelling: Mining management teams must move beyond presenting technical drill data and instead frame a clear, engaging narrative for institutional and retail investors across digital channels. Core CEO Strategy: Long-term market value is built on conservative target-setting, strong corporate governance, and maintaining a local community license to operate. BEST MOMENTS "A listing is for life, not just for Christmas... getting the building blocks in place can take a significant period of time."  "Under-promise and over-deliver... that is the most guaranteed way to make your investors happy."  "Tech companies are brilliant at telling their story and engaging with their audience... the days of running around town with a deck that just talks about the resource for 20 pages of technical analysis are evolving."  "Critical mineral mining is not just a commodity story... it's a strategic, geopolitical, and capital market story."  "Always take capital when it's there... because it may not be there tomorrow." x VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:  ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:   ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:   http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES https://www.haynesboone.com/locations/london  https://www.instagram.com/haynesboone/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/haynes-and-boone-llp/home/  https://x.com/haynesboone   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/haynes-boone-london/ | https://www.linkedin.com/company/haynes-and-boone-llp/  Haynes Boone’s Website - https://www.haynesboone.com/  Nick’s profile - https://www.haynesboone.com/people/davis-nick  Nick’s LinkedIn –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-davis-12471513/ CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode we speak to Colin Padget, President and CEO of Founders Metals, a gold exploration company advancing the Antino Gold Project in Suriname.   Colin is a geologist with a strong business background and has helped lead the team through an impressive period of exploration success at Antino, with 11 discoveries identified across the property to date.   We discuss the story behind Antino, its wider district-scale potential, the growing relationship with Gold Fields, Colin’s transition into the CEO role, and why Suriname and the wider Guiana Shield could represent one of the more exciting underexplored gold regions globally. KEY TAKEAWAYS District-Scale Discovery Engine: Founders Metals has demonstrated vast mineralization potential across its 100,000-plus hectare land package at the Antino Gold Project in Suriname, notching 11 discoveries to date. Tier-1 Mining Validation: Major gold producer Gold Fields made a cumulative investment of roughly $100 million USD to secure a 19.9% stake in Founders Metals, offering both strong market validation and valuable technical collaboration. Blending Exploration with Business Acumen: Transitioning from geologist to CEO requires building a balanced technical team and knowing when to steer exploration toward mineable resources rather than open-ended science experiments. Modern Tech Pierces the Jungle Cover: Implementing high-resolution LiDAR and modern geophysics has revolutionized exploration through dense jungle canopy, allowing Founders to identify historic workings and uncover structural trends missed by previous operators. BEST MOMENTS "It feels a bit cliché when you're an exploration company in the Guiana Shield... everyone has one of those slides in their deck where it shows West Africa and the Guiana Shield and that the continents used to be together... but it really was that."  "There's a validation piece that comes with having a major gold miner... take that level of interest in the company... They didn't invest in us to take it over and tell us what to do; they've been happy with what we've been doing."  "The number one thing is knowing, as a project geologist running a program, when does it stop being about the growth of a future resource or something that's mineable, and when does it turn into a science experiment?"  "Hands down, just being able to see through that cover... LiDAR is able to see through it down to the centimeter scale... We can see where there's been something dug 50 years ago, and take that as something worth going to check up on." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/founders-metals/ X: Founders Metals Inc. (@FoundersMetals) / X Instagram: Founders Metals Inc. (@foundersmetals) • Instagram photos and videos IR Contact: Costner Morrison, Director, Investor Relations - [email protected] CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode we chat to Johann Dias, CEO of URSA Mining to discuss how autonomy and artificial intelligence are changing the mining industry.   We explore where the technology is delivering real value versus the hype, what mining companies need to consider before adopting autonomous systems, and how executives can manage the risks involved.   We also look at the impact on people and skills, whether technology can help mining attract the next generation of talent, and ultimately, what the mine of the future could look like ten years from now KEY TAKEAWAYS Autonomy delivers the greatest value when applied to simple, repetitive, low-variance tasks rather than attempting to solve every operational challenge at once. Mining operations can lower adoption risk by starting with safe, low-impact test sites before rolling out autonomous tech to high-pressure production zones. Attracting the next generation of mining talent relies on offering hands-on responsibility with emerging technologies rather than treating tech as a corporate afterthought. The mine of the future will increasingly shift toward remote digital command centers, improving safety by drastically reducing the number of personnel required on-site. BEST MOMENTS "Digitization creates visibility, AI creates efficiency, and autonomy leverages visibility to compound efficiency." "Technology is really a tool, it is not a Band-Aid to solve deeper problems that can exist within the operation, but when implemented correctly, the upside can be absolutely massive." "Hype cycle is saying that autonomy can do everything and anything all the time, and the grounded, much more pragmatic approach is to look at it from the sense of: where are our simplest tasks coming from, and can we put a machine on those tasks to perform it itself?" "I envision the mines of the future to be run from command centers much like that Hoth base, where you can observe all the activity happening in real time." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES ●      https://ursamining.com/ ●      https://www.linkedin.com/company/ursa-mining/ ●      https://x.com/ursamining CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode we chat to Jeff Court, CEO of Tungsten West, an AIM market listed mining company who own and operate the Hemerdon Mine at Drakelands, South Devon, in the UK; one of the world’s largest tungsten resources who are going to bring the Hemerdon mine back into full production   We discuss the restart of the mine, the project’s progress towards commissioning, the significance of recent UK Government support and funding, the UK mining industry and the key steps ahead as Tungsten West moves towards production.   Jeff also shares lessons from more than 30 years in mining and his experience delivering projects around the world and much more. KEY TAKEAWAYS Backed by a £71 million funding package that includes the UK government as a strategic equity partner, Tungsten West has fully funded Hemerdon through to commercial production. The company rapidly transitioned from securing capital to launching operations within roughly one week, running plant refurbishment and early production in parallel with ongoing new construction. Hemerdon represents one of the world’s largest tungsten deposits outside China, positioning the UK as a critical supplier of raw materials for domestic defense and clean-energy supply chains. To overcome regional recruitment shortages in Devon, the operation is prioritizing local hiring, on-the-job training, and transferrable problem-solving skills over prior mining experience. BEST MOMENTS "We're probably one of the fastest projects you'll ever see from 'we're fully funded' to 'we're producing', and give or take we're about a week in between those two processes." "We now have the UK government as a long-term strategic equity partner in the project, and that means a huge amount to us." "If someone said to me, could you do the same for a project that might be sitting in remote parts of Canada right now? I'd say, 'Hey Rob, come and talk to me in about 12 years.'" "If you said what would be the rulebook before you started in this CEO role, I think, mate, you'd probably have thrown it out about twice since I joined and rewritten it again multiple times." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES ●      https://www.tungstenwest.com/ ●      https://www.linkedin.com/company/tungsten-west-plc/posts/ ●      https://x.com/TungstenWest?lang=en ●       https://www.instagram.com/popular/tungsten-west/ CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode we chat to Daniel Muñiz, Executive Chairman of Sinda, an emerging silver discovery in Mexico with the potential to become one of Latin America’s largest primary silver assets.   We explore the story behind the discovery, what makes Sinda particularly exciting from a geological perspective, and the opportunity that remains across a project where around 74% is still significantly underexplored.   Daniel also talks us through the strategy of expanding the existing resource while pursuing district-scale exploration, the challenges of advancing both simultaneously, and what the next phase of work could unlock.   Finally, we look at Mexico’s position as the world’s leading silver-producing country, why it continues to generate world-class discoveries, and the role projects such as Sinda could play in meeting growing global demand for silver. KEY TAKEAWAYS The Sinda project hosts an estimated 800-million-ounce silver-equivalent resource within Mexico’s historic silver belt, positioned to become one of Latin America's largest primary silver assets. Despite its already substantial footprint, only 26% of the 6,200-hectare property and 36% of mapped veins have been drilled, signalling significant district-scale expansion potential. Backed by $330 million raised from its IPO, the company is advancing underground decline development while running an extensive drilling fleet to target production by 2031. Sinda navigates Mexico’s evolving regulatory landscape by treating community, environment, security, technical skill, and permitting as integrated priorities to de-risk development. BEST MOMENTS ""It's kind of like the gift that keeps on giving... it’s an elephant, a tiger by the tail, a whale—it will be more than one billion ounces, and we are just scratching the surface today." "In communities, it's not just about winning passive social license; it's about generating active community sponsorship." "I think people believe mining in Mexico has become very restrictive, but that's wrong—it's not restrictive, it is selective. If you keep to the rules of good practice, you really get things done." "I am very convinced that all silver roads lead to Mexico." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES ●      https://www.linkedin.com/company/sindamx/ ●      https://sinda.mx/en/ ●      https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587560758521 ●      https://www.instagram.com/sindamexico/ CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode we chat to Matthew Rowlinson, President and CEO at Solaris Resources to discuss the development of Warintza in Ecuador, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper projects.   We explore what differentiates Warintza from other major copper discoveries, the critical steps required to move a resource of this scale towards construction, and how Solaris is thinking about financing and ownership as the project becomes increasingly de-risked.   We also look at the wider copper market in particular; why the industry isn’t building enough new mines despite forecasts of a future supply shortage, the growing importance of geopolitics and China’s role in downstream refining, and what the mining industry needs to do to secure the social and political support required to develop the next generation of major copper mines. KEY TAKEAWAYS Warintza is an open-pit copper porphyry project in southeastern Ecuador boasting a 5.8-billion-tonne resource, a 55-year mine life, and an advantageous 0.5-to-1 strip ratio. Solaris is targeting mid-2027 to achieve a fully permitted status, aiming for a final investment decision (FID) by the end of 2027 followed by an estimated three-year build. Upstream mine ownership does not guarantee supply security because Western development has lagged behind China's dominant 50% to 60% share of global smelting and refining capacity. The primary barrier to meeting the global copper shortage is not the lack of raw resources, but the lengthy timelines and the scarcity of projects that have successfully aligned permitting, social license, and technical studies into a truly financeable package. BEST MOMENTS "There’s a difference between a very good ore body, a good project, and ultimately a financeable project... in the world today there's very few projects that are actually probably financeable." "Mining is really the procurement arm of the world... industrialization and urbanization has only happened through ultimately mining." "Western governments are looking at independence of supply chains... However, owning a mine in Latin America, owning a mine in the DRC... does not necessarily solve the supply chain issue because your concentrates are ultimately going to go to China to be processed." "Partnership... is not necessarily just about bringing in capital. It’s really about bringing in expertise, bringing in a balance sheet that really is solid, and the ability to go and construct." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES https://www.solarisresources.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/solaris-resources-inc/?originalSubdomain=ca https://x.com/SolarisResource Email address: [email protected] CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode we chat to Andrew Chubb, CEO of Awale Resources, to discuss the company’s exploration journey at the Odienné Gold-Copper Project in Côte d’Ivoire and what it really takes to make a significant mineral discovery.   We explore what gave Andrew the early conviction to keep pushing at Odienné what the successes and importantly the failures have taught the team, and what still needs to be demonstrated for the project to emerge as a significant gold-copper district.   We also get Andrew’s perspective on the wider exploration industry: how technology is changing the way we explore, knowing when to keep drilling or walk away, why billions spent on exploration aren’t resulting in more major discoveries, and what advice he would give the next generation of geologists. KEY TAKEAWAYS Disciplined mineral exploration relies on letting incoming data continuously refine deposit models rather than becoming emotionally attached to initial theories. Côte d’Ivoire has evolved into a premier mining-friendly jurisdiction due to forward-thinking policy, rapid 4-year development timelines, and extensive regional electrification. The lack of tier-one discoveries from massive global exploration spending highlights the advantage agile junior explorers have over large producers when executing field programs. Having significant exploration capital requires geologists to maintain financial discipline, evaluate mining economics early, and avoid overextending on early-stage targets. BEST MOMENTS "If you look at it from a geologist perspective... there’s sort of a bit of a joke that goes around geologists of 'he who sees the most rocks wins'." "People ask the question, you know, 'Would you put your house on a project?' I effectively did... I was all in, if you like, from a poker perspective." "I sort of have a philosophy of you never completely discount a target, you just put it on the shelf. Because the next one... might actually give you insights into what you got wrong on the last one." "Don’t think that you’ve got—'Oh, I’ve got 20 million bucks, I can do what I like'... Still think about your budgets carefully and how you’re going to apply them, and let the geology tell the story." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES ●      https://awaleresources.ca/ ●      https://www.linkedin.com/company/awale-resources/ ●      https://x.com/AwaleResources ●       https://www.youtube.com/@AwaleResources CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode, we chat to Steele Hemmerich, President of MetPro (Metal Prospecting AS), a copper and zinc exploration company in Norway's Grong VMS District. He brings a rare blend of hands-on field experience and capital markets execution. He started his career in the oil and gas industry before moving into corporate finance, where he worked on transactions across the mining, oil and gas, and technology sectors. Based in Dubai, he's evaluated mining projects across Europe, Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, and calls MetPro one of the most exciting he's come across, thanks to its drill-defined resource, Tier-1 jurisdiction and established infrastructure. In this episode, Steele joins the show to talk about MetPro's copper-zinc project in Norway and what it takes to bring a brownfield VMS district back into production. KEY TAKEAWAYS MetPro is fast-tracking the drill-defined Skiftesmyr copper-zinc deposit in Central Norway’s prolific Grong VMS district toward updated 43-101 compliance and pre-feasibility readiness. Built on decades of historical exploration and production data, the project benefits from tier-one infrastructure including direct access to highways, renewable hydropower, rail lines, and deepwater ports. The company’s multi-phase exploration program aims to expand resources beyond 6 million tonnes by testing open depths, strike extensions, and unaccounted high-grade gold and silver mineralization. MetPro is strategically positioned to help close the EU’s critical raw materials supply gap by leveraging predictable Scandinavian permitting standards and brownfield development speed. BEST MOMENTS "We have over 18,000 meters of modern diamond drilling completed, so this isn't a story about starting from a blank page; we're building on decades of historical development." "A great financial model built on shaky technical data is still a shaky project, no matter how clean the spreadsheet looks." "Domestic mining is only covering maybe a quarter of what Europe actually consumes... it's currently above the minimum 10% that the CRMA is targeting, but it's still a long way off of being self-sufficient." "Brownfield, previously drilled, tier-one jurisdiction with existing infrastructure—those can move from resource to production far faster than a greenfield discovery." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES Email: [email protected] and [email protected] Website: www.metproas.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/metpro-metal-prospecting-as/ CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode we chat to Haytham Hodaly, President and CEO of Wheaton Precious Metals, one of the world's leading precious metals streaming companies.  We discuss Haytham's journey from joining Wheaton over a decade ago to leading the business today, explore how the streaming model is reshaping mine finance, and examine the record-breaking Antamina silver streaming transaction with BHP. We also look at the outlook for precious metals, where Wheaton sees its next growth opportunities, and what investors should be watching over the coming year. KEY TAKEAWAYS Non-dilutive financing model: Streaming provides mining operators with upfront development capital at a fixed production cost with no dilution, debt covenants, or repayment burdens. Monumental portfolio expansion: Wheaton’s recent milestone $4.3 billion silver streaming transaction with BHP underscores strong validation and demand for streaming among tier-one global miners. Significant built-in growth: Backed by fully funded and permitted construction projects, Wheaton is on track to increase production by 50%, targeting approximately 1.2 million gold equivalent ounces by 2030. Strong precious metals outlook: Long-term fundamentals remain bullish, supported by gold’s safe-haven role against currency weakness and silver’s accelerating demand across solar, electric vehicles, and AI data centres. BEST MOMENTS "We provide upfront capital to mining companies in exchange for the right to purchase a percentage of their future metal production at a fixed rate... that provides our counterparties with financing with no dilution, no debt, and no significant covenants or repayment burdens." "What we're trying to position ourselves as is the highest quality, lowest cost, strongest growth portfolio in the industry with the lowest risk profile." "Silver's got those great conductive properties which will also make it incredibly important in the AI expansion... AI data centres typically require almost three times more silver than a typical data center." "Every transaction has to be an accretive transaction... it’s not just deploying capital, it’s disciplined capital allocation." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES Website: https://www.wheatonpm.com/overview/default.aspx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wheatonpm/ X: https://x.com/Wheaton_PM Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WheatonPM/ CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this episode we speak to Hugh Broadhurst, COO at Aclara Resources to discuss one of the biggest challenges facing the critical minerals industry: how the West can build a secure and competitive rare earth supply chain outside of China. We’ll explore Aclara’s development of SPREC, its plans to connect South American resources with separation capabilities in the United States, and how AI, pilot plants and strategic partnerships could help accelerate the journey from development into commercial production. We continue to discuss the risks of scaling technology from pilot to commercial operations, what can and can’t be accelerated through AI, and why simply discovering more rare earth deposits isn’t enough to create genuine supply-chain independence. KEY TAKEAWAYS Simply discovering raw mineral deposits does not ensure independence; true supply chain security requires full control over refining, separation, and metallurgical capabilities. Vertical integration reduces commercial and operational risks by allowing upstream mining operations to be balanced specifically for the chemistry and ratios needed downstream. Scaling chemical processes from pilot to commercial production often fails due to basic mechanical material-handling challenges rather than errors in chemical theory. Artificial intelligence and digital twins help convert the complex "art" of multi-stage separation into an exact science by modeling dynamic feedback loops and time variability. BEST MOMENTS "It’s not just the molecule you’re trying to sell, it’s what comes with it." "Having the control means we understand our deposits, we understand the variability, and then it’s just about managing it." "The goal here is to take the art out of it and apply science." "It’s often not the basic process that doesn’t work, it’s these annoying little things that happen... everywhere where there's solids, that's what I like to look for." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠[email protected]⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ GUEST RESOURCES https://www.aclara-re.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/aclararesources/ https://www.instagram.com/aclara.br/ https://x.com/AclaraResources CONTACT METHOD ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/