Robert Friedland
@robert_ivanhoe • 49,112 subscribers
Founder @IvanhoeMines_ | @IvanhoeElectric | Everything affects everything, everywhere, all the time 🌎
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Ivanhoe Mines just released an update on the their massive Western Forelands copper exploration project. The Western Forelands discoveries continue to grow explosively… confirming the area as the most important sedimentary-hosted copper basin on our planet… One might struggle to find a larger copper system that has been discovered in the past 30 years. Ivanhoe’s world-leading geologists have so far found over 55 million tonnes of copper in the basin… and they are confident they will continue to find additional world-class copper systems there for generations to come. Today’s interim update shows that the size of the Makoko District discovery within the Western Forelands continues to grow, firmly ranking Makoko by far as the world’s largest and the highest-grade new copper discovery of the past decade… in an era when the desperate cries for new sources of copper are getting louder and fewer copper discoveries are being made. As the copper resource expands…so does our excitement and confidence. We plan to intensify our efforts this year by, yet again, increasing the size of the in-fill and step-out drilling program. Our subsequent Mineral Resource update will include both additional metres and the projected 60,000 metres of drilling from this year’s drill program that were not included in today’s update. Our track record of copper discovery in the Western Forelands is unrivaled… We are discovering copper at an absurdly high discovery rate of 100 million pounds of contained copper for every 1,000 metres drilled… and at an exceptionally low discovery cost of a fraction of a penny per pound of high-grade copper discovered. Our ability to find high-grade copper systems at such low cost is the very definition of creating shareholder value. We plan for scoping study work to commence soon, which will include mining some of the highest-grade, open pit copper mines in the world. Ivanhoe Mines Watch the video visualizing the 2026 Mineral Resource update...
Robert Friedland100,656 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
Thank you, Donald J. Trump, for the invitation to the Oval Office today… Mining is a critical industry vital to the re-industrialization of the United States' economy. Today mining as a sector only represents 1% of the S&P500... However, with your leadership and the Project Vault initiative, I am super excited for the future of this incredible industry in America and its future impact for the American economy.
Robert Friedland318,816 Aufrufe • vor 9 Monaten
I’m telling you… It’s copper copper copper copper copper.
Robert Friedland228,624 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten
To build a data center the size of Manhattan, as Mr. Zuckerberg intends to, we need some metals that you’ve probably never heard of in quantities than you cannot fathom… These metals are not just 1 or 2 letters on your periodic table that you glanced at while daydreaming in Chemistry class… They are critical to national security. I explained why you really should care about supply chains at USC’s Energy Business Summit…
Robert Friedland134,689 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten
At the American Mining Roundtable earlier today, hosted by President Donald J. Trump at the Department of State, I said, “Mr. President, this is a truly historic occasion to bring America back to the leadership of mining, which built this building and which built this country. We've been sleepwalking through many administrations, and this is a revolution that will just electrify the millions of people in the United States that understand that everything you touch, we either mined it or we grew it agriculturally. And the people that are the farmers really need everything the miners produce to help them farm. So this is critical to our national security. We're elated with your support, and we're going to use Yankee ingenuity to prove that we can dominate the supply chain again, rather than have that used by other nations against us. Thank you for that.”
Robert Friedland50,738 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten
Sam Riggall, CEO of Sunrise Energy Metals appeared on Bloomberg TV Monday, June 15, to discuss our Syerston Scandium Project and G7 countries’ plans to reduce their dependence on China for critical metals…One could benefit by listening carefully to his conversation… Sunrise’s Syerston Scandium Project is the largest and highest-grade deposit of scandium in the world. As G7 countries seek to reduce Chinese supply for rare earths like scandium to a maximum of 60%, Sunrise will serve as an alternative, given that China currently produces approximately 85% of global supply. Sunrise’s deposit holds over 32,000 tonnes of contained scandium in mineral resources: enough to meet global scandium demand for many decades to come. Scandium’s absolutely critical applications are numerous and significant: both in defense (where it is primarily used as a lightweight yet incredibly strong alloy in military and space applications) and for thousands of civilian applications (such as Radio Frequency filtering chips to enable 5G and 6G wireless, and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells to produce energy efficiently). Scandium is also integral to the future of AI…Sunrise is a cornerstone investor in Agni Semi, the company developing the next-generation of non-volatile memory chips using ferro-diodes manufactured with aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN). Agni will produce the most energy-efficient non-volatile memory chips on the market, facilitating the massive rollout of AI that is only set to consume more energy and memory as models continue to snowball…Agni’s chips can operate up to 600ºC, which have the potential to benefit the geothermal drilling technology we are developing at I-Pulse Group. In scandium’s critical applications, there is no known substitute metal that can deliver the same level of efficiency. Founding and serving as Chairman of our companies is a passion. Like I-Pulse, Sunrise Energy Metals is not only a mining company; Sunrise will also become a leading technology powerhouse in all things scandium as we make strategic investments in the downstream scandium value chain. The importance of this rare earth metal that you may have just heard of cannot be overstated. Now is the right time to learn more about Sunrise Energy Metals…
Robert Friedland66,858 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten
On December 15, 2023, LME copper settled at $8,471 per tonne ($3.85 per pound). Today, May 25, 2026, the LME price is $13,660 per tonne, with U.S. copper trading (at a premium) at around $6.46 per pound. That’s a rise of over 60% in just two and a half years. The $15,000 per tonne threshold, needed to incentivise meaningful new supply, which I highlighted back in 2023, is now less than 10% away. Yet global copper supply is weaker today and costs are higher. Meanwhile, the demand for copper from the world’s two largest economies is unprecedented. In the US, potential Section 232 tariffs have put imported copper in the crosshairs, while in Asia we’re entering peak Chinese demand season. There are no semiconductors, no data centers, no electrification without copper… which is why the price of the world’s essential electrical conductor now trades in tandem with Nvidia and the AI boom. Add to the mix EVs, robotics, and defense demand, and copper’s future price direction is clear. In another two and a half years, $20,000 per tonne or $9+ per pound is realistic. Watch the LME warehouses closely and see where the metal actually moves… the world is finally waking up to the true value of copper.
Robert Friedland56,851 Aufrufe • vor 5 Monaten
Back in late 2023 when I appeared on Bloomberg, we were already flagging tight smelting conditions and supply challenges in the copper market. Prices were at approx. $8,500/tonne at the time ... people were questioning copper demand dynamics amid high rates and Chinese economic conditions. We looked beyond the near-term noise at growing grid investment demands, national security issues, growing supply shocks, and the challenges in bringing new mines to market. Today copper is well over $10,000/tonne and rising ... largely due to the issues we discussed almost two years ago when I said "nearly any disruption could result in a sharp upward move in prices":👇
Robert Friedland109,612 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr
Watch this video of one of the largest data centres on earth, under construction in Texas…. The video shows the cooling system used for the Ai GPU CHIPS…. It’s made out of pure copper! Copper is used in data centres to transfer heat as well as electricity.
Robert Friedland77,125 Aufrufe • vor 9 Monaten
Ivanhoe Mines announced today that the first batch of anodes was cast at the Kamoa-Kakula copper smelter
Robert Friedland62,394 Aufrufe • vor 10 Monaten
It was a huge honor to take part in #HelloAmerica, an extraordinary event looking at the ideas and innovations that will shape the country’s next 250 years that included the President of the United States, the entire cabinet, many of Silicon Valley’s greatest leaders and the worldwide media. In an interview with the U.S. Secretary of Interior, Secretary Doug Burgum, we discussed the centrality of critical minerals to the prosperity and the national security of the United States. Held in an absolutely packed hall in Washington D.C. at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, President Donald J. Trump Donald J. Trump kicked the event off with an energizing speech…only to be followed by presentations and panel discussions with Secretary of State Secretary Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Secretary of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, head of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler, tech luminaries Elon Musk, NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang, Paul Jankura co-founder Tom Brown and so many more… Sincere thanks to Secretary Burgum for elevating the importance of critical minerals. You can’t build super intelligence and data centers without enormous quantities of critical minerals. The need for critical materials has never been as acute…while our financial system has raised massive capital for technology and super intelligence, many of us forgot the simple truth that everything you’ve ever touched was either mined, or grown…critical materials in our supply chain should never become a partisan issue in our domestic politics. The absolute necessity for a broad all-of-government and academia effort to secure our great nation’s supply chain is the very basis for how our great nation will secure the next 250 years. The United States has been blessed with the richest endowment of natural resources in the world…surrounded by oceans to the East and West and friendly neighbours to the north and south…It’s time to find, develop, mine and process all critical minerals to secure our country’s future and do it in a way that is clean and sustainable. As you’ll hear in the clip, “the wealth under our feet dwarfs our national debt” and if #USA🇺🇲 “pulls together at the scale of our economy,” “nothing can stop us” from regaining #CriticalMinerals sovereignty and providing for the needs of 8 billion people. We will do our part. Ivanhoe Mines Electric is building America’s first major new copper mine in a generation…that will deliver 99.99% pure copper to American enterprises without using antiquated smelting technology. Sunrise Energy Metals will supply the nation with the rare earth metal scandium…that our country is now forced to buy from abroad…and I-Pulse Group is working to revolutionize the way we access critical materials and unlock this country’s huge geothermal potential by making it commercially viable to tap into the heat beneath our feet. This is the first time in my living memory – and I was born in 1950 – that the United States government has paid so much attention and shown such support for securing the nation’s supply chain for copper, the king of all minerals, and all of the other elements in the periodical table required by our high-technology economy. The work has begun and it will require everyone’s support. The previous administration allied with the G7 to take an early first step, backing the Lobito Corridor which provides an efficient corridor to bring Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. copper to the Atlantic Ocean and global markets…The United States alone cannot achieve its aims. The task of bringing Africa’s incomprehensibly vast mineral endowment will take generations of sustained effort. I also want to sincerely salute the Chief Brand Architect of the U.S. Peter Arnell Peter Arnell and Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia Joe Gebbia and National Design Studio for their vision, putting together such a fantastic event and for the amazing work they did on to simplify the way we interact with our government.
Robert Friedland10,701 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
It was a pleasure to speak with the ever-excellent Dani Burger on Bloomberg TV’s Open Interest this morning. In the run-up to President Xi’s first State Visit to the U.S. since 2015, as reports flood in of positive U.S.-China conversations on a new critical metals deal before our current one expires in November, and as we teeter on the edge of a new record high for copper… we certainly had a lot of fat to chew. This administration understands that projects of national strategic importance are worthy of governmental support… Sunrise Energy Metals’ Syerston Scandium Project is set to solve the West’s entire problem for the “rare earth” metal known as scandium…the only metal named after Scandinavia… and also… Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz Copper Project will be the first new major copper mine in the U.S. in a generation… there are more than 1,400 defense related companies in Arizona… therefore I doubt the copper produced at Santa Cruz will leave the state of Arizona before it’s utilized downstream. These projects are among the vital first spades in the ground to ensure that we can indeed keep the lights on for our grandchildren, let alone electrify the world… Our supply chains are extremely vulnerable. Our gratitude goes to those supporting our efforts to resolve this long-term national security concern.
Robert Friedland11,393 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
We took to the stage 32 years ago to deliver the keynote at the very first Mining Indaba... and we have spoken here every year since. Data centres did not exist 32 years ago, and therefore nor did the term critical minerals… In recent years, as the world has rapidly advanced, a message we have regularly repeated is that not only is the African continent currently a major source of these critical minerals, but the continent will be increasingly relied on in the future.
Robert Friedland38,938 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten
In mining, which is often a slow and challenging business, we always welcome nations’ leaders identifying our projects as strategically important… So yesterday, it was a pleasure to hear Prime Minister Albanese express his and President Trump’s joint support for Sunrise Energy Metals’ Syerston Scandium Project, following a call between the two on Thursday night. Prime Minister Albanese spoke generously. “I had a very productive, constructive, lengthy and substantial phone call with President Trump of the United States. We were able to review progress of our agreement on critical minerals, which is making real progress,” he said. “We both welcome the recent investment of U.S.$400 million in Sunrise Energy Metals’ project near Dubbo. This is a project which is critical for the production of high-heat aluminium alloys used in fighter jets and spacecraft.” The criticality of our Syerston Scandium Project to the United States, Australia, and the West in its totality cannot be overstated. We would like to express our gratitude to PM Anthony Albanese, President Donald J. Trump, and their two great nations for their continued support and wisdom to collaborate on what is a difficult but vital task: reinventing our supply chains for minerals to secure our futures. We are proud to be ticking scandium off the list…
Robert Friedland14,309 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten
A much appreciated shout out from the 41st United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick about I-Pulse at the Mining Roundtable, hosted by President Donald J. Trump on Friday. As Secretary Lutnick says, I-Pulse Group really does intend to “change the way mining is done”. We are honored to do our part in supporting the Secretary’s goal of re-establishing the “full industrial supply chain” on American soil. I-Pulse’s proprietary technology will deliver unparalleled drilling performance especially in high-temperature rock conditions, multiplying drilling speeds and massively reducing drilling costs. The technology will rapidly advance a multitude of industries, including underground hard rock mining, rock crushing, precision manufacturing, defense systems… and most important of all, it will enable the next-generation of advanced geothermal power plants in America’s massive hot dry granite formations. In June, I-Pulse signed a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce for a $250 Million CHIPS R&D Award. The award provides funding for R&D to advance I-Pulse’s American program, which will strengthen U.S. supply chain resilience and reduce the reliance on foreign-made semiconductors. Our program will deliver on the following CHIPS Act goals: 1) furthering American semiconductor research, 2) strengthening domestic production capabilities, 3) cultivating a local semiconductor workforce, and, 4) delivering commercialized products that directly enhance America’s global technology leadership. Link to our CHIPS Act award: U.S. Department of Commerce Ivanhoe Electric Ivanhoe Mines Sunrise Energy Metals Blue Spark Energy
Robert Friedland14,242 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten
Thank you, Secretary of State Secretary Marco Rubio and Donald J. Trump for your leadership in supporting the development of alternative sources of rare earth elements that will deliver a resilient supply chain for the America’s advanced manufacturing capabilities. In October 2025, the presidents of the United States and Australia signed a landmark framework to cooperate in the supply of critical minerals and rare earths. Following that landmark event, Sunrise Energy Metals will soon start building the world's first primary mine for scandium in Australia, thanks to funding provided by the United States. Scandium is critical to a myriad of applications in defence, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence infrastructure and wireless spectrum technologies… and Sunrise's Syerston project in New South Wales holds over 32,000 tonnes of contained scandium in mineral resources, enough to meet global demand for many decades to come. Scandium is the most strategically important of the strategic rare earth elements, with current prices at well over $6 million per tonne.
Robert Friedland13,989 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten
We’re working round the clock to knock the cover off the ball in our support for U.S. domestic mineral exploration… and to mine, baby mine! U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said during this Bloomberg interview: “There’s been an attack on American energy in this country, but even longer than that there’s been an attack on mining in our country … Just like President Trump says; ‘drill, baby drill’ we’ve got to get back to ‘mine, baby mine.’ The U.S. graduated 36,000 lawyers last year, and about 300 people with mining and metallurgical degrees.”
Robert Friedland25,715 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten