The global economy has steadily become more resource-intensive, creating the need for capital expansion in the underinvested mining sector. Yet demand for minerals and metals is poised to accelerate further thanks to two still-underappreciated drivers: The green energy transition and the global expansion of upper- and lower middle-income status consumers. These trends are also helping to create...
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Balancing Commodity Demand & Investment Dislocations
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American Battery Metals Initiative
Listen to Rob Gray, Chief Commodities Strategist, discuss the impacts of the recent American Battery Materials Initiative. What’s discussed: Learn More: American Battery Materials Initiative Whitehouse Fact Sheet Rob Gray Chief Commodity Strategist Important Information This material is provided for educational purposes only and should not be construed as research. The information presented is not...
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RG Gold Grand Opening Celebration
In early October 2022, Ross Bhappu, Resource Capital Funds (RCF) Partner responsible for Private Equity Mature Funds, represented RCF at the grand opening of the new gold processing facility at the RG Gold mining site in Kazakhstan. In this post, he shares some of his thoughts and observations about the event. Early on Friday, October 7th, I arrived at Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan...
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Inflation: Are the 1970s an analogue for the 2020s?
Listen to Rob Gray, Chief Commodities Strategist, review how the 1970s may provide a useful perspective to understand current inflation and mining investment trends. A logical place to start is with a discussion of inflation. Inflation is on everybody’s minds at the moment. And I’m asking the provocative question here: Are the 1970s a useful analog for where we find ourselves today?
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Minerals 101: Nickel
When the majority of Americans hear the word “nickel” they generally think of the five-cent piece. Although familiar, the humble coin is only a small part of the metal’s long history and even longer list of uses. As a component of many common grades of stainless steel, nickel has played a vital role in creating the modern world. Now it is poised to play an even bigger part in the transition to...
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Smartphone Technology relies on Metals and Minerals
More than 30 elements are used to build a single smartphone. With 1.35 billion units shipped in 2021, and 1.53 billion units expected to ship in 2025 the demand for digital technologies will require minerals and precious metals from the ground to support increasing demand.1 Additionally, many of the metals and minerals used in smartphones are also critical to supporting the green energy transition.
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Middle Income Growth
Listen to Rob Gray, Chief Commodity Strategist, review how middle income growth is driving demand for critical metals and minerals. A logical place to start is with a discussion of inflation. Inflation is on everybody’s minds at the moment. And I’m asking the provocative question here: Are the 1970s a useful analog for where we find ourselves today? If we think about the 1970s...
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Inventing a New Category of Private Equity
Almost 25 years ago, at Resource Capital Funds’ first annual general meeting, I was having dinner with some of our Limited Partners (LPs) and asked about the most interesting investments in their portfolios. This was in 2000, when dotcoms were booming, and biotechnology was making waves. I was sure they’d come up with some fascinating examples of cutting-edge industries. Instead...
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Why We Joined the Global Battery Alliance
The energy transition has resulted in the need for substantial increases in certain minerals that are critical to its success. Resource Capital Funds (RCF) has been investing in most of these minerals for decades and we have a keen understanding of some of the challenges that expanding production will create. Electric batteries, in particular, are playing a pivotal role as the world...
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Electric Vehicle Market Penetration
Listen to Rob Gray, Chief Commodities Strategist, Resource Capital Funds, review how Electric Vehicle Market Penetration is exceeding expectations and driving demand for battery metals and minerals. Filmed during RCF’s September 2022 Annual Meeting. So, auto sales were approximately 95 million units per year in the 2017-2018 period. The decline in auto sales and production started before COVID.
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The Increasing Criticality of S in Mining ESG
Investors are increasingly considering Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors hand in hand with a mining company’s financial performance. It isn’t just feel-good window dressing: a 2020 meta study from New York University’s Stern School of Business notes that there are consistent positive correlations between ESG and corporate financial performance and that “Improved financial...
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The Big 5: Major Trends Driving Demand
Listen to Rob Gray, Chief Commodities Strategist, Resource Capital Funds, discuss 5 cyclical, secular, and structural drivers that are creating a paradigm shift in demand for metals and mining. On this next slide, we cover what we internally call the Big 5. What are those cyclical, secular, and structural drivers that support our industry. Now, whether we start at the tip of the spear with...
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Private Credit & Mining: Generating Predictable Returns from Transition Metal Investing
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The Energy Transition Begins and Ends with Metals & Mining
Listen to Rob Gray, Chief Commodities Strategist, Resource Capital Funds, discuss the massive demand trends for key energy transition metals that are needed to support global decarbonization efforts. This is a slide that you’ve seen before, however, I’ve switched the order. I’m going to start with lithium because actually achieving the supply side growth in lithium is probably the easiest of the...
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Creating More Effectively Governed Assets
Much has been written about what it takes to create a good board of directors. People who have studied the issue largely agree on the importance of a good mix of personal and professional skills; strategic vision; access to the right information; independence, accountability, diversity, equity and inclusion. It makes sense: authentic and impactful oversight can only occur when company directors...
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Battery & Electrification Trend Acceleration
Listen to Rob Gray, Chief Commodities Strategist, Resource Capital Funds, discuss how batteries are set to drive a relentless need for key battery metals. So, batteries are a key driver between what’s happening in the whole decarbonization space. As a part of our strategy session, we had an external consultant who we worked with in the past share some of his organization’s views on how battery...
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Paradigm Shift for Critical Mineral Investment
The U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The European Green Deal. The Critical Minerals Facility in Australia. These are just a few of the enormous new infrastructure programs being enacted by governments around the world to change global energy to a more sustainable, carbon neutral model. Just as programs like the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 transformed U.S. society and the economy by creating...
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The Warehouses are Empty: Above Ground Metals Supplies at Multi-Decade Lows
Listen to Rob Gray, Chief Commodities Strategist, Resource Capital Funds, discuss how underinvestment in metals and mining is leading to historic lows in above ground metal supplies. (This shows) the above ground supply of base metals across all exchange warehouses. So, this is the LME warehouses. This is SHFE in Shanghai. This is Comex for those Comex traded base metals. Key message is the...
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Standardized ESG Reporting will Drive Mining Sector Investment
Reuters recently covered Lauren McGregor’s, participation in the Mines and Money Conference in Melbourne, Australia where she discussed standardized ESG reporting
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RCF Celebrates International Day of Women in Mining
RCF honors the outstanding achievements of the 48 women at RCF, and those women working at the 210+ portfolio companies we invest in across the globe
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