The Power Current with Chris Berry

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

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

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

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

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