"If it’s not grown, it’s mined." ⛏️

In this episode of the Critical Minerals Intelligence Podcast, host Joe Webb sits down with seasoned investor Adrian Day, Founder of Adrian Day Asset Management, live from the floor of PDAC 2026 in Toronto.

With decades of experience navigating global markets, Adrian provides a masterclass in separating "market propaganda" from economic reality.Adrian addresses the "Avatar Effect"—the cultural disconnect where society demands high-tech digitalisation and green energy while remaining ideologically opposed to the extraction required to build it. From his famous "wastepaper basket" lesson on the ubiquity of minerals to the hidden impact of Tether on the gold market, Day offers a "market-literate" perspective on why the resource sector is the backbone of modern civilisation.

In this episode, we discuss:The Education Gap: Why younger generations demand a green future while opposing the mines required to build it.The Shovel-Ready Myth: Why "shovel-ready" projects still take five years to produce and why new supply is often 15 years away.

The Tether Factor in Gold: How the world’s largest stablecoin is quietly resetting the gold market by out-buying central banks.

The "Gucci Loafer" Metric: Why Adrian ignores technical reports in favour of observing how a CEO interacts with their camp cook to determine "local licence."

Substitution vs. Efficiency: How human ingenuity and technology might bridge the looming copper supply gap.

Key Timestamps:

• [01:10] The "Wastepaper Basket" Test: Challenging anti-mining sentiment.
• [03:23] The Avatar Effect: Net-zero goals vs. industry reputation.
• [07:50] ESG & The New Audience: Attracting non-traditional mining investors.
• [10:32] The 15-Year Lead Time: The reality of copper production cycles.
• [18:42] Building from Scratch: Why people are the number one investment metric.
• [24:50] The Tether Factor: Why gold remains attractive at all-time highs.

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