Unveiling the Future of Lithium and Rare Metals Exploration - with John Wisbey

In this episode, we chat with Guy Winter, who is an Energy and Natural Resources Partner at Fasken, who are a leading international law firm providing practical and innovative legal services to solve the most complex business and litigation challenges faced by organisations in various industries including in the mining and resources industry. Guy’s background is in M&A, Equity Capital Markets, Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Restructures, and advises clients across the entire battery minerals value chain. Today he talks about why the Mining Majors haven’t done more deals in the critical minerals sector and what the deal landscape currently looks like in terms of asset classes and transacting parties. KEY TAKEAWAYS Mining majors have been hesitant to invest in critical minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt due to market volatility and lack of transparency in the battery minerals market. Non-traditional players such as Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, government-backed entities, and automotive manufacturers are increasingly investing in critical mineral projects. Governments are starting to understand the complexity of the mining industry, especially in critical minerals, and are developing strategies to support access to these materials. Differential pricing for ESG-compliant minerals is on the horizon, potentially creating a new funding market for projects that meet environmental, social, and governance standards. While stability is being reached in certain critical minerals like lithium and nickel, the future outlook for the remainder of 2024 remains uncertain, with bullish sentiments for copper and potential deficits in nickel by 2028. BEST MOMENTS "The collapse of the LME nickel market in 2022 caused seismic shocks throughout the market, undermining confidence and reducing majors' appetite for critical minerals investments." "The US Inflation Reduction Act has pumped liquidity into the energy transition, creating a funding gap between the US and other Western countries in the critical mineral space." "The US has surged ahead in critical minerals investment, while the EU is lagging behind. The UK is focusing on refining, processing, and recycling to play a role in the critical minerals supply chain." "Will the two-tier pricing for green and regular minerals create a new funding market for ESG-compliant mining projects?" 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 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guy-winter-86376112/ Website: https://www.fasken.com/ ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

 In this episode we chat to Donald Swartz, CEO of American Rare Earths, who are developing their 100% owned magnet metals projects; Halleck Creek in Wyoming and the La Paz in Arizona, both with the potential to be among North America’s largest rare earth deposits. Donald is an executive with over 20 years of leadership experience in the domestic and international mining industry. A mine engineer by background, he has a proven track record of success in developing and executing business development strategies, resulting in significant revenue growth and talks to us about American Rare Earths, their projects and whats happening in the rare earths space KEY TAKEAWAYS American Rare Earths has a significant rare earth deposit in Wyoming with the potential to be among North America's largest. The company's scoping study showed promising results with low operating costs compared to competitors. The DARPA breakthroughs allowed for pre-concentration of ore, resulting in cost-effective separation of magnetics. The metamict structure of the deposit naturally facilitates processing, requiring lower heat levels for leaching. American Rare Earths is focused on achieving pre-feasibility study milestones in the next six to twelve months. BEST MOMENTS "Undoubtedly large resource and really our focus since that time has been around the metallurgy, but We've only, we've only drilled out about 25% of the resource."  "Mother Nature has kind of done the cracking for us. So if you go to Linus and you're talking about a thousand degrees C cracking circuit, there's no need for that."  "Wyoming, for your listeners who may not be familiar, is probably the biggest extractive kind of mining state in the U.S."  "I think it's not too dissimilar from lithium cobalt, copper, nickel, where you're starting to see a little bit of recovery in copper these past few weeks and it's undoubtedly linked to macroeconomic factors."  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 www.americanree.com YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTk3D2fQZ5DSTMKbR1jMVw Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-rare-earths/ ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

In this episode, we chat with Eric Desaulniers, President & CEO of Nouveau Monde Graphite, who are striving to become a key contributor to the sustainable energy revolution as the is working towards developing a fully integrated source of carbon-neutral battery anode material in Québec, Canada for the growing lithium-ion and fuel cell markets. A geologist by background, Eric’s specialises in geophysics and integrated 3D earth modelling before joining the team at NMG back in 2011. He is going to talk about: The role of Canadian miners in the North American energy transition. How the company is establishing a sustainable supply of domestic graphite to companies like General Motors and Panasonic. Why the future of North American mining is promising…. as more companies look to onshore rather than import/offshore as more environmental regulations/trade tariffs are put in place. KEY TAKEAWAYS Nouveau Monde Graphite has secured agreements with major companies like General Motors and Panasonic, showcasing the company's commitment to sustainable supply and domestic production of graphite. The future of North American mining looks promising as companies like Nouveau Monde Graphite focus on onshore production to meet the increasing demand for critical minerals in the green energy revolution. Eric highlighted the challenges and opportunities in the mining industry, emphasising the importance of understanding the entire supply chain, from mining to transformation, for companies like GM and Panasonic. The company is focused on achieving a final investment decision (FID) to move forward with their large-scale project, demonstrating the commitment of stakeholders and governments towards sustainable mining practices. BEST MOMENTS "It's not that much the mining that is a challenge. It's only one third of the cost, one third of the capex and the opex. It's the two-thirds and also the expertise."  "So now it's clear we have the best partner out there. And our goal was never to be the only open pit mining or electric mining operation. It was to have the most electric operation out there." "Graphite represents about one kilogram per kilowatt hour of battery capacity. If you have a Tesla, it's about 100 kilograms of graphite, so it's quite significant." "It's not like a typical mining project. It's really every year you need to do something more on the product, you need to qualify it with customers, you need to understand what they do with your product." 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 Website: https://nmg.com/ X: https://twitter.com/NYSE_NMG LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nouveaumondegraphite/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NouveauMondeGraphite/ ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

In this episode we have a returning guest who appeared in November 2023, episode 391 so you can listen here: https://rb.gy/adu23f Sonia Scarselli, Vice President, BHP Metal Exploration division and also VP of BHP Xplor program which is a cohort-based accelerator program to support early-stage mineral exploration start-ups find critical resources, such as copper and nickel, to drive the energy transition. Sonia has a background in geology, starting her career in the O&G industry with Exxon-Mobil before joining BHP over 10 years ago. She is an expert in envisioning the future and turning those visions into reality and is redefining the landscape of mining exploration through her work creating BHP Xplor. Sonia gives us an update on the 2024 Xplor program, improvements they have made from the 2023 program, and her outlook for juniors in the exploration space. KEY TAKEAWAYS The Xplor program is an accelerator program designed to support early-stage mineral exploration startups in finding critical resources such as copper and nickel to drive the energy transition. The program aims to provide financial, technical, and entrepreneurial support to selected companies over a six-month period, helping them accelerate their exploration activities and cut timelines. The selection process for the program focuses on evaluating the geological concept, leadership and technical capabilities of the companies, and their potential for growth and scale. The partnership between major mining companies and juniors through programs like Explore helps bridge the gap in investment and support, leading to stronger exploration opportunities and partnerships. The junior exploration space has faced challenges in securing capital for exploration, but there is a growing need for resources, indicating potential for increased investment in the future. BEST MOMENTS "The accelerator concept is something that has been heavily used in the technology world with some big firms like Y Combinator, Intel, and so on, as well as in pharmaceuticals."  "The ultimate effect has been that the discovery rate, especially in copper, has dropped down quite significantly in the past 20 years with no significant new discoveries, new large mines, large discoveries happening."  "The main advice is to make sure that when they think about their opportunities, they don't just focus on the next three to six months activities, but really advertise their opportunity on what it could be."  "So for us, the intent to start this program first and then continuing was to open up our ability to understand what are the best opportunities around the world." 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 https://www.bhp.com/about/our-businesses/xplor  https://www.youtube.com/@bhpBHP Xplor - YouTube ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

In this episode, we chat with Darren Hazelwood, CEO of Panther Metals Plc, an LSE-listed company that invests in or acquires companies or projects within the natural resources sector that have the potential for growth and value generation over the medium to long term. The company will focus its search on highly attractive established and politically stable mining jurisdictions such as Australia, North America, and Canada. Darren is a highly experienced private sector business leader and experienced investor, focusing on value accretion within rapidly growing natural resources companies. He gives us an update on Panther Metals, what they have achieved, and their outlook ahead plus Darren gives his views on the market and where we are now in the life-cycle. KEY TAKEAWAYS Panther Metals has a diverse portfolio of assets in Ontario, including projects focused on graphite, VMS, and rare earths. The company has been cautious in its approach to fundraising, prioritising the protection of existing shareholders and waiting for the right market conditions. Panther Metals is considering building an advisory board to enhance its network and strategic decision-making. Darren emphasises the importance of tier one jurisdictions like Australia and Canada for mining investments. The mining industry is poised for growth, with increased government funding and interest from end users and major companies. BEST MOMENTS "I think there's going to be a lot of news flow in a very short space of time with us. But, yeah, it's going to be a very, very busy summer and I've warned my wife to that extent." "I'm a big bull on tier one jurisdictions, Australia, Canada. I think there is more than enough that's undiscovered in those locations that you can remove some of the geopolitical risks by looking at those areas."  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 www.panthermetals.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-hazelwood/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/panther-metals-plc/ https://twitter.com/panthermetals https://www.facebook.com/panthermetalsltd/ ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

In this episode we chat to Tom Cawley, Interim CEO and Exec Chair of MaxMine who provides a data platform service that improves mining operational efficiency, profitability, safety and sustainability in mining Tom has over 25 years experience in business, innovation, technology and energy across a range of sectors including, Mining, renewable energy, oil and gas and explains what MaxMine does, why A! and data is needed more than ever in our industry and tips on decarbonisation strategies and solutions in modern day mining. KEY TAKEAWAYS MaxMine offers a high-resolution data set that enables the measurement and optimisation of a greater range of processes in mining, providing unique insights and improvement rather than just data. The mining industry is one of the least digitised industries globally, with significant opportunities for productivity improvement through data utilisation. AI and data are crucial for achieving operational efficiency and sustainability in mining. Mining companies face increasing operating costs, labor shortages, turnover, and the need for high-quality data to drive behaviour change and operational improvements. Data and modelling play a key role in decision-making for decarbonisation strategies in mining, enabling companies to optimise existing efficiency and make informed investments in sustainable technologies. BEST MOMENTS "AI needs lots of data to get to a level of certainty... If you don't have a lot of data, it can't get to a level of probability of saying, 'Yes, I'm pretty sure this is X or Y.'"  "Mining's got this double net zero imperative... We must supply the minerals at the transition or there is no transition." "We have this unique high-resolution data set which enables you to measure and optimise a greater range of processes than that's been hitherto unseen." 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 Website link: https://maxmine.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/maxmine/ Contact: [email protected], +61 8 8223 6000 ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

In this episode, we have a returning guest who appeared back in June 2022 (Episode 246). Jonathan Awde, President and CEO of Dakota Gold Corp, listed on the NYSE are a junior mining gold exploration and development company with a specific focus on revitalizing the Homestake District in Lead, South Dakota. Jonathan spent the last 15 years raising financing for various junior resource companies, focusing on institutional accounts, high net worth, and family offices, and has raised more than $600 million for public and private companies in the natural resources sector during this period. He gives us an update since we last spoke on Dakota Gold’s projects and what they have achieved and his opinion of what's happening in the gold market. KEY TAKEAWAYS Dakota Gold Corp's Progress: Dakota Gold Corp has made significant progress since the last podcast episode nearly two years ago, moving past the proof of concept stage to determine the size of their gold system. The company has made two significant discoveries at the Maitland project, with high-grade hits such as 4.87 ounces per ton. They have also found a new type of mineralization at the Unionville project, showcasing the potential for multiple discoveries. Dakota Gold Corp is set to release a maiden resource for the Richmond Hill project next month, compiling historical drill holes and new ones to outline the resource's potential for expansion and growth. The company is optimistic about the future, with upcoming catalysts like the Richmond Hill resource release and continued exploration at Maitland. They are also actively engaged in ESG initiatives and have a strong focus on community relations and responsible mining practices. BEST MOMENTS "We've got this resource coming out at Richmond Hill next month. And we've chosen to move all of the rigs to Maitland."  "We did also make a rare earth discovery at Richmond Hill that we announced last month." "I think it's a really exciting time. It's a pretty crazy time, but it's super exciting for our industry."  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 Email: [email protected] Phone: +1 778 655 9638 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/dakotagold/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DakotaGoldCorp   ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

In this episode, we speak with Ken Brinsden, who is the CEO and Managing Director at Patriot Battery Metals, who are a hard-rock lithium exploration company focused on advancing its district-scale 100% owned Corvette Property located in the James Bay region of Quebec. Ken is a mining engineer from the Western Australia School of Mines with over 25 years of experience in surface and underground mines and has been involved in the development of Atlas Iron Limited and more recently, discovering the world’s largest hard rock lithium deposit for Pilbara Minerals in Western Australia. Ken gives an overview of the company and the resources they have discovered with the excellent geology around the Quebec region. He discusses the current lithium market and the positive outlook of the sector he believes is around the corner. A must listen to all in the Lithium space. KEY TAKEAWAYS The Corvette project in Quebec benefits from a favourable infrastructure, including proximity to Hydro-Quebec's dams and distribution networks, which will support the development of the mine. Quebec's mining industry, with a history dating back to the 1840s, provides a strong foundation for the development of mining projects like Corvette, with a skilled workforce and supportive regulatory environment. The lithium market, despite recent price fluctuations, shows promise for growth, especially with the increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and energy storage solutions. Patriot Battery Metals is focused on delivering an upgraded resource, completing feasibility studies, and obtaining environmental approvals to commence construction at Corvette in the next three to three and a half years. BEST MOMENTS "The life of mine is shy of 22 years, currently at 800,000 tons per annum of spodumene production, which would make it the second biggest mine in the world currently." "I think the growth in China is material. Their moves to dominate the lithium-ion battery industry are very, very significant. And I cannot see them slowing down." "There's a lot of positives around lithium for the future. So obviously don't be disheartened with the price of lithium at the moment."  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 Website: www.patriotbatterymetals.com Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/Patriot_Battery  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/patriot-battery-metals/ ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

In this episode, we chat with Graeme Stanway, founder & chairman of the company State of Play, a global research platform that publishes the largest global survey on Strategy and Innovation in the Resources sector and has recently released a report with several key insights about the external trends impacting our industry and how industry is innovating and adapting their strategies and business models as a result. Graeme has gained extensive business and consulting experience in strategy, innovation, and large-scale transformation covering mainly mining and energy commodities, and talks about innovation, transformation, and mining as a brand in our industry. KEY TAKEAWAYS The mining industry needs to focus more on product marketing and branding to unlock value and improve its negative perception. Energy profiles of mining companies are expected to shift towards renewables, with solar and wind being the primary sources. There is a skill shortage in the mining industry, particularly in areas like remote operations and project development. Future research areas for State of Play include exploring physical innovation acceleration, energy downstream processing, and perceptions in the industry. BEST MOMENTS "The big surprise for me is how much, if you stand back and look at asking questions about what major trends are going to drive the industry, energy has just gone through the roof in the last five years from a very small expectation."  "There's value left on the table, but it's a question of how you get that. We can only focus on so many things. So on the perception side, that's on the company branding side, mining's got, well, from our research, it's got a very negative perception."  "People are well aware of the broad issues, but I'd say leap harder at some of those things where we can be seen positively."  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 www.linkedin.com/company/innovation-state-of-play/ www.stateofplay.org Contact details: [email protected] ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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. 

In this new episode, we chat with George Bennett, CEO of Rainbow Rare Earths, who aims to be a forerunner in the establishment of an independent and ethical supply chain of the rare earth elements that are driving the green energy transition with projects in South Africa, East Africa, and Brazil. George has over 25 years of experience in mining, finance, and management, leading a number of mining companies including Shanta Gold and OreCorp, and also established DMD Engineering which built mineral processing plants and mine infrastructure before selling this to Foster Wheeler. He gives us an overview of Rainbow Rare Earths, what they have achieved to date, and where he is going to take the company moving forward. KEY TAKEAWAYS Rainbow Rare Earths aims to establish an independent and ethical supply chain of rare earth elements driving the green energy transition. George Bennet, with his extensive experience in mining finance and management, leads Rainbow Rare Earths with a strong team including key technical director Dave and chief metallurgist Chris. Rainbow Rare Earths is developing projects in South Africa, East Africa, and Brazil, focusing on extracting rare earths from phosphogypsum stacks with high-grade rare earths. The US government's Development Finance Corporation has earmarked $50 million for equity financing into Rainbow's Phalaborwa project, showcasing strong support for the company. Rainbow Rare Earths anticipates profitability even in the current market conditions, with plans for production to start in late 2026 and a strong focus on building an independent supply chain outside of China. BEST MOMENTS "We are very keen on trying to build this independent supply chain outside of China." "We believe we'll be the lowest OPEX cost of any project in the world, even below the Chinese, apparently."  "We've also seen a slight slowdown in wind turbine generation. Once again, that will have to pick up quite strongly to meet those demands."  "We believe that subsidies will have to come back in from European and even US governments to drive this take-up of EVs."  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 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rainbow-rare-earths/  X: https://twitter.com/RainbowREarths  Website: www.rainbowrareearths.com Email: [email protected]  | [email protected] ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. 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.