Transcription
Hello everybody and welcome into Commodity Culture, where we break down commodities markets, sound money principles, and geopolitics, all with the goal of making you a better investor in the commodities sector. My name is Jesse Day. Today is March 2nd, 2026, and I'm thrilled to be joined by Johnny Kasovvich, an investor, author, and expert on global energy.
Johnny sees gold at $10,000 and silver at $200 plus as realistic price targets, as nations and investors look for a way out of the US dollar, and the growing electrification of the world drives silver demand much higher. Johnny also dives into why lithium, phosphate, and natural gas are all poised to be huge winners, and he reveals which companies he's investing in to take advantage of what he sees as a generational opportunity in the metals and mining space. All of this and so much more ahead in my conversation with Johnny Kovasvich.
Johnny Kovasovich, great to have you back on Commodity Culture. And our last time I had you on the show was December last year. At that time, silver was around $60 an ounce, gold around $4,300. You said you thought gold would hit $5,000 and silver would get to $100. But once it did, we'd see a radical correction. And that's exactly what happened with silver dropping 26% in a single trading day after an all-time high close of $117. Walk us through why you expected it to drop after hitting triple digits. And with silver looking like it's headed back to $100 here, how do you see things playing out this time around?
>> We're going to have short, punchy answers today, Jesse. And when you, you have to ask questions, the who, the where, and the how for silver. So, we, we know that there was a lot of the Reddit crowd and a lot of the, um, you know, tourists, if you will, and and they're buying a lot of times with leverage, and they're buying, they're not always buying physical. Now, we always have all our silverbug guys, and when you put all that together, there's one word in the English language. It's called volatility. When all these pieces come together, so we love it when these guys push the price way beyond what's rational. They do it with shares as well. These tourists, these speculators, it's going to continue to happen. But gold, silver, commodities, if, if you know things like Dennis Gartman used to say, if it falls on your foot and it hurts, those are the things you want to be invested in these today with a heavy skew towards the things that make electrification possible. That's why my opinion, silver had such a radical correction. It was kind of, you could see it coming.
>> And so, is silver part of that electrification narrative then? It's obviously the greatest conductor of electricity of any metal. There's not very many options to replace it in industrial use. Do you see that industrial side, that electricity demand, potentially being a catalyst for the silver price ahead?
>> Yes. Growth in electricity is going to grow faster than any GDP in any country. So, we're talking, you know, effectively final energy usage, which in China now is 30%, rest of world about 22%. When China 10 years ago is 20%, that's going to climb to about 50, 55%. The amount of copper, aluminum, um, silver is used in more sophisticated electronics and in connection points. So, all of that big demand, you know, it's going to be growing by, uh, in, in some sectors, 5 to 10% CAGR, you know, for these sophisticated electrical components. And then you always have the longest trend in history, which is the ascent of man. That still is going to, that's your 2, 3% sort of a, you can sleep very well at night, but it'll be augmented by all these things. So, all three, and they're going to work actually, I think, in conjunction. But of course, silver has other uses. It's the, the speculation, it's money, uh, and it's a monetary instrument, not just an industrial commodity.
>> I wanted to pull in that thread regarding the ascent of man, because I didn't have this question prepared, but it popped into my mind due to the fact that we're seeing such a decline in birth rates across the developed world, including in my home country of Canada, over much of, much of the EU, the United States as well, China, Japan having their own demographic issues. I believe South Korea is one of the worst off in terms of the the amount of births that they're having versus what's required to replace the population. However, of course, Africa, massive amounts of births, a lot of the so-called developing world is in a different situation. Do you see the main demand driver for energy over the course of, let's say, the next several decades? Now, this demographic shift isn't going to happen overnight. It's not like suddenly everybody disappears, but it's a trend that's occurring. So, how do you see that playing into things? And do you see most of the growth coming from developing nations moving forward?
>> I don't look, I don't really lose any sleep on something that's going to affect my speculations more than 3 years out. What happens with, uh, global birth rates, which are falling? Anytime a country becomes more, more affluent, they have fewer babies, period. Happens everywhere. It happens all over the world. That too will happen in Africa in, in the sort of medium term. But what, what my speculations, I look at, if I can't look at it two, three years out, who knows, Jesse? But in, in the longer, longer run, when people are having one or two babies, or, or as we have in Europe, we're not replacing ourselves anymore. So, yes, in the longer run, but that, that's something to worry about for your children, you know. Uh, I don't think it's going to impact anything and, and I just, I don't lose sleep over that myself.
>> I'd love to get your current view on gold as well, with the metal creeping back close to previous all-time highs. We're getting close to that $5,400 mark as we speak right now. How much more upside do you think there is ahead for gold, and what are the main catalysts you currently see driving that market?
>> Well, the action word I talked about with silver is volatility. Going to stay there. So, with gold, when you go back, I go back 15 years and going through places like Singapore and Zurich, where, where 2 to 2 to 5% of of a person's portfolio might have been gold. Now, in our circles, it's more. But I'm talking of the general public. That creeped up, that was going up to about 10%, and on a Swiss portfolio, maybe 15% for, for many people. And I saw a lot of people buying physical gold, even here in the Balkans, when gold tripled in price, Jesse. It, it becomes too heavily weighted in a portfolio. So, what we have going on right now in gold is rebalancing. So, there, there has been selling. It's been selling by people that own gold. They own physical gold. So, eventually, the, the physical market will catch up to itself, but that's going to continue through 2026, in my opinion, you know. But at the, in the longer run, the medium run, it's going to go from the bottom left to the upper right of your screen because when the world collectively is going away from the US dollar, you know, where do you go? Gold is really up the, maybe the biggest pillar of that, biggest, um, part of that table, you know, where I think portfolios are going to be, portfolios will be allocated, central bankers and, and, and all of the above. So, gold will continue to climb. And for us to see something where gold goes to, you know, $8,000 or $10,000, uh, I would say that's no longer, uh, an, an if, but when question. And on those same days, you're going to see silver at $150 to maybe $200. I think maybe even more, you know, the 50 to 1 ratio, I think is a very holy, holy alliance between gold and silver.
>> And what is your stance right now when it comes to the gold and silver mining sector? Do you think there's still opportunity ahead there? And if so, is there still value to be had in the big producers in your view, or would you be getting into the weeds on developers and explorers at this point?
>> Developers are going to go on a balance sheet. Uh, probably still doubles and triples with the, with the highest quality names. Uh, that's not where I play, other than First Majestic. I bought that when it was, you know, much cheaper, just because it has so much volatility. But the, my heart beats for for discovery. So, with that, I, I'm now writing checks in private placements for, for I think what is good science, where people can come up with a discovery hole. When you have a bonanza type discovery, and it's not easy, of course. It's, it's nice to have a 10-bagger. They're hard to come by, but there's a lot of drilling that's going to take place. So, we used to be maybe a five or 10 hole program. You know, we're investing in 40, 50 hole programs like financed, ready to go. And it's, so there's a real chance to to discover something. So, the devel, the producer double or a triple, the developer buyout. I think that's, you're looking at for them to get bought out because that's maybe a little bit more of a boring trade now. They've all moved up a lot, and the, the real action is going to happen in, in, um, in drill hole play. But that, of course, is the riskiest part of the spectrum. So, buyer beware. And yes, the, the, a huge amount of money is being allocated to this sector, and it's already been made, Jesse. How, how many billions have been made by, by all the people waiting on the sidelines? And you, I'm sure everyone has the propensity to want to write a check now, even on a deal maybe you would have, you wouldn't have, uh, crossed the street to look at it. But there's, there's a lot of demand there. And I think 2026 is a year, even though we have, uh, volatility, even though we have rebalancing, uh, so much money's been, and a lot of that money by people like me, that is a bit of a deal junkie, is getting recycled into the drill hole play. So, with a lot of the good guys and the good science, we should expect to have some discoveries. If you're drilling three or four times more than you were in the slow years, three, four, five years ago, it's, it's logical that we're going to have some, uh, some success there. But of course, there'll be a lot of tears as well, because usually these things don't work out. So, invest with the good guys that have a track record and have a big program. You don't want to be in a two or three hole program where if they miss, the money goes to money heaven, sadly.
>> The sponsor of today's episode is Arc Silver Gold Osmium. Owner Ian Everard is praised even by his competitors as one of the most honest and level-headed bullion dealers in the United States. They have some great prices. You can see some of them displayed right now on screen. You can take advantage of these specials today by reaching out to Ian at 307-264-9441 or by email at ian@archsggo.com. Make sure to tell them, of course, that Commodity Culture sent you. And now back to the interview.
Well, we're going to circle back later in the interview to shed some light on your methodology for evaluating mining stocks. So, be sure to stick around for that. But, I want to move on to what's happening in the world today. We need to touch on it briefly. The war with Iran, the US and Israel attacking Iran. Iran now seems to be attacking US military bases around the Middle East. We could be on the precipice of this conflict igniting. You know, obviously people are throwing out World War II and expressions like that. But aside from the details of the conflict itself, what we want to know is how do you expect it to affect precious metals prices, commodities, and financial markets in general, assuming it does continue on and become a longer-term conflict.
>> We're recording this interview on Monday before the market opens in America, about 2 hours before. Uh, it's going to be a nervous day. Um, I'm not invested or speculating in too many things that I'm, you know, trading. So, I'm waiting for the result. For people that are doing drill programs, I'm still trading out of some old legacy positions that have done very well, slowly, slowly, passively, but those are things that are already, you know, way up. So, I think that, uh, that doesn't impact me even if they were to fall 20%. I'm still a very, very polite passive seller, right? So, and, um, it's going to be a nervous time. And imagine, everyone knows someone who's been to Dubai or been to Abu Dhabi, which is considered safer than safe. You know, the amount of security. My friend who owns an apartment there, he's on his balcony, and their anti-ballistic, anti-missile, um, defense systems are engaging in blowing up missiles in the air. Terrifying. I mean, I can't even imagine. And you can't leave. I mean, it's just, it's a very, very nervous situation. And, and people that are seeing that and listening to that, the propensity is to want to go into cash or go into liquidity. Um, that, that's going to be a very nervous few days. So, people are saying there's, you know, four days and they're, some cooler heads may prevail, but they're very proud people, you know, Persians. I know them. I know many in Vancouver. They're, they're, they're great business people and they're very proud. So, I, I don't know. I mean, some people are protesting for free, the freedom, and other people are protesting because of the, the, the, you know, the, the action. I mean, it's just, I don't know. No one can tell you definitively. We have to wait and see what happens. But we, I really hope that the cooler heads prevail because that is, uh, it's not good. It's already escalated to what, seven, eight countries in the region there. And, um, you know, um, gold and silver, I think are where people are going to take their liquidity. So.
>> Well, copper is another metal that a lot of people are talking about right now, and it too looks like it could be moving back to previous all-time highs, currently at around $6 a pound. You were part of a round table discussion recently on copper on our friend Lucy and Triangle Investors channel recently. Could you break down your thoughts on the copper market for us here in 2026?
>> Copper is going to be perpetually, um, in deficit. So, everyone's already heard about all that. Aluminum is going to play a key role in creating all this, this electrification. When copper is scarce, and at times it's going to be very scarce, and this is where the speculators really push it up dramatically, 'cause the, the end user, they don't panic, they buy less of it. You're talking about Southwire in America, or you're talking about, uh, Pirelli, um, Mitsubishi, or of course, China Incorporated is 50% of the market. They have no interest in a long-term, really high price of copper. Now, it gets there because you have higher lows and higher plateaus, but, you know, in the next 20 years, as copper is going to continue to be scarce, you know, we don't actually put our hands in our pockets and say, "Oh, darn. We can't do it." No, we, we substitute. Not everything, but a lot of things are substituted with aluminum. So, the aluminum price, that 4:1 ratio, I think that's going to stay. It could even tighten where it gets a little better net. And you're going to have continued volatility also in copper. It's just, it's inevitable. Whenever you see the price of copper dramatically go higher, probably odds are it's going to, it's going to roll over. We haven't seen that where, where a rollover that's infecting the shares yet, but that too will happen. That'll happen in the year 2026, where, where you go through days and weeks of lower copper, falling copper prices, which means it's red every single day. And the Chinese, the last time copper prices got, uh, over $5, they told the market they were dumping 10, 10, 20, 30,000 ton lots to the market openly. Here, you want copper, we'll give it to you. No one can tell you exactly how much copper China has bought and did buy and would buy when the price is lower. They make money every single time on the trade. They have where to store it. And the Americans are now creating a, a copper reserve, just like they have a strategic petroleum reserve. But the Chinese are ones that will actually trade it out because that the price always, always, always rolls over because nobody that actually uses copper wants a high copper price. They just go hand-to-mouth. So, expect volatility, and at least once or twice a year, probably you're going to see something where, where the price of copper can correct 10 to 20%. So, and because of all those reasons, and aluminum is the thing that will be used when, when they use less copper, they have something they can use, and they will continue to use it. So, do you think now is also a time to potentially be looking at aluminum plays? I mean, this is not a commodity that I've spent much time thinking about. I don't believe there's an ETF, uh, to to access either aluminum production or physical aluminum. Are there miners out there? Are, are you looking at that sector at all right now?
>> Nah, that's a boring trade, Jesse. You know, aluminum is effectively congealed electricity. You're talking bauxite and, and if you have cheap energy, you're, those, those places around the world are the ones that, uh, create aluminum. Iceland, Norway, the, the Gulf States, Canada. So, I have never played aluminum, not interested in playing it. Uh, there's no real way to have that, uh, where my heart beats the discovery hole. You get a discovery hole, the share goes ballistic. You have a legitimate chance for a 5 to 10 bagger in, you know, almost instantly. And so I'm, I'm following those guys that have done it before, that have success, and drills are spinning on good projects. So, I'll, I'll focus more to discovery and copper rather than anything to do whatsoever with aluminum.
>> Well, lithium has also been showing signs of life after being in a sideways consolidation since around December 2023. This is a market that had a lot of hype behind it and reached a boiling point, an all-time high of around $80,000 per ton in November 2022 before a massive correction. Do you think we'll ever make it back to previous all-time highs? And maybe perhaps more importantly, do we even need to go back there to make a ton of profit in the lithium sector?
>> I hope we never go back to that, uh, pumped up $80,000 a ton. It would never deserve to be there. For, for what reason? No one, no one can exactly tell you. But lithium is, uh, a very important speculation for the next two, three, five years. And if the GDXJ, which is the, the gold miners junior's index, is up 300, 300% basically, went from 50 to 156, somewhere there. Well, LIIT, which is the big lithium and battery tech ETF, is up 250%, Jesse. So, it went from 31.50 low in April to, you know, 77.8 today. And the lithium shares on, on balance, other than Albemarle and maybe like Standard Lithium and different things like that, they haven't had that big, that big follow trade. So, if you like what you saw with gold and gold shares, and you like what you saw in silver and silver shares, lithium's right there. It's the, the CAGR growth rate for lithium this year is going to be probably like, um, 25, 30% for the next couple years. The base becomes. So, it surprised everyone. Everyone thought the market would be overbalanced till 2030. It already got resolved. We, we can now plausibly say, hey, it's already been growing by 20, 25%. A lot of that not just cars, it's, it's battery systems for, for energy projects or for backup battery, uh, storage. So, market 1.5 million tons last year, probably close to 2 million tons, and then climbing to somewhere around 3 million tons way sooner than we thought. Why is that important? Your average lithium project contemplated, I'm talking about the top 20, let's say, that have economic models. The average about 20,000 tons, the bigger ones, 30. So, if we're growing by 400,000 or 500,000 tons a year, you know, there's no four or five projects that can fix this. You, you really need to have a quantum leap in technology. And as everyone would know by now, it's, I'm speculating in direct lithium extraction. Will not be the Solars of South America. It cannot only be done by hard rock mining. Big oil has made their bet. It's in DLE. And as everyone knows, it's Lithium Bank. Lithium Bank is up 300% from when I was talking about it just, uh, last year. And I told you it's the, to turn a dollar into $2 is very hard, or a dollar into $3, but it was so low. The, the shares were so beaten up. I said, this is, you don't even need a pencil and paper. This is a no-brainer speculation. So, now, 2026, lithium price is $26,000, climbing to hopefully with good levels, not going to go to these $80,000 ton, uh, pricing. And a company like Lithium Bank, LBNK, is doing a feasibility study this year with Schlumberger and the Alberta government gave them three almost $4 million to help complete that feasibility study. It's March now. So, when you look at all the other companies that completed their feasibility study, they all went up 10 times. So, 64 million shares outstanding, feasibility study 8, 9 months away, great team, you know, this is something that I see like a five-bagger now. I used to say 10-bagger when it was at 25 cents. But for, to, to see a five-bagger, it could even happen in this year, you know, that's a great speculation. So, I love lithium. The price, the market's going to be strong, irrespective of sodium ion batteries. That'll be something for, for way in the distant future, but probably it's going to be all type solid state, LFP, and, uh, sodium ion batteries. And, and but lithium, I think, is an absolute top of my sheet speculation still for 2026. I love the setup. It's there. I love it.
>> Have you looked into or or heard anything about these batteries Samsung is supposed to be putting together involving silver? Because last time I had you on the show, I got a lot of comments about that. People saying that that's going to be the future. Have, have you looked into that at all?
>> There's no one chemistry, Jesse. This is a probably a solid-state battery. And when you look at solid-state batteries, there's like 20 chemistries that I'm aware of. They always start with Li, Li something. Li something. And the, the big, cheap, uh, reliable, we build millions and millions of these things is the LFP, the lithium iron phosphate. And we talked also about the P. Where's the P going to come from? Purified phosphoric acid, PPA. Everyone knows I'm following a company called PHOS, First Phosphate. I think you did an interview with John Pasalqua. If, if you hear that story, the, the PPA story, where this purified phosphoric acid comes from these igneous types of deposits. Ideally, usually it's coming from sedimentary type deposits, but when it comes from igneous rock type deposits, that's where they, they get almost all of the phosphate goes into PPA. All of that that gets, uh, produced is going to get be taken up by the market. The, the challenge for the, for the industry is there's not a lot of those types of deposits. Fortunately, First Phosphate has one. It's in Quebec. It's near tidewater. They're moving a feasibility study forward, and that, that too is a speculation where that sort of dovetails with Lithium Bank, and they're both going to be delivering their their feasibilities at the end of this year, end of 2026. So, those are the two I'm following in parallel. I have more Lithium Bank than I do PHOS, but I think that that's a good dovetail for batteries. Uh, the chemistries with companies like Samsung, and there's so many different people working in this. Hundreds of thousands of people are working in this industry, which is good for us as consumers because these batteries get better. They get cheaper. They're, they're, they're quicker to charge. They're, they're more energy dense. And we, as mining speculators, we want to be following with a, with a laser sharp focus, which components are the most important ones. The building block, the foundation is lithium, augmented, I think, by purified phosphoric acid, which is the P. And I don't think you need to look further than than a company like PHOS. Just look, they got a treasure trove of information on their website. Lots of videos. You spend two hours researching that, I think you become, you know, you should become someone that's very serious that looks at it and with a, with a good potential, is I certainly do.
>> Yes, absolutely. And a company announcing they're working on something or there's a new battery technology being developed. This is so far away from large-scale commercial adoption. I think people get confused and think things are right around the corner. These can take years, if not decades, to roll out, depending on the technology. Now, I want to ask if there's any other commodities that are currently on your radar that you think could outperform up ahead.
>> Well, I love natural gas in Central Europe. So, gas in Central Europe is four times more expensive than it is in North America, and they need to wean themselves off of Russian gas, irrespective of what, how, what happens in that, the conflict between Ukraine and, um, and Russia. So, I've speculated at a company called Cambrian, CCEC. It's, they're drilling in Hungary, where there's a 2% royalty rate in Hungary, not, not some big number like you get elsewhere in the world, 30, 40%. It could be that high. They're hundreds of meters away from infrastructure. They are going to be drilling their first three wells. The potential for the field is 60 to 100 wells. So, the first three, the first one's going to cost $18 million. The next two about 16. They're aiming to do a partnership with a, with a large company that would come in, pay for the first three wells. Then it becomes a 50/50. And, you know, when you look at the market cap of the company, they're trading around $4. They're going to have this partnership that they look to have that sort of completed by the end of April, and they want to be drilling by the end of this year. So, the wells that they drill, we need to see the deliverability and the permeability. And if the, if the wells can be better than 2 BCF, the models show that they can be 5 to 8. And there is past production here, but this is like 30, 40 years ago. Never has modern fracking technology been applied here. So, the models are showing 5 to 8, if you get better than 2 BCF per well, but something like 5 to 8, this is a bonanza. And with the well field, as, as many as 100 wells can be drilled there. Hungary needs the energy, and the royalty rate very low. Um, this is a great setup. I love natural gas in Europe, and the, this is a way to play it because they're ready to go. You know, all the hard work, the waiting, and, you know, I've invested in this company two times already, and, and now we should have this play out through here to the end of 2026. So, if you like that setup, you like energy, you like natural gas, and you want it in Central Europe, here's a company that's going to give you speculation exposure where do a model, but this is also something that's like a 10 or 20 bagger with the high end of success. Now, if they drill and the, the pressure is low, and the decline rates are very rapid, and they have lower than 2 BCF, okay, that's a different story. But that's a speculation that'll, we'll, we'll get these results as the year goes on. So, uh, take a look at that one, Cambrian CCEC.
>> Yes, I'll be having Ken Cambria management, um, on the program later this month. So, be sure.
>> We did not organize this. That was not planned, but I, I know that you're in Serbia. I'm in Croatia, and, and I'm planning on going there. So, we'll pick you up in Subotica, and we'll go there. It's on the Serbia line, that the project, right on the border. So, that's interesting.
>> That would be awesome. Yeah. A very interesting project. Now, you've been a speculator, an investor, a successful one in the mining sector for decades. Could you shed some light on how you evaluate mining companies, positive signs that you look for, as well as potential red flags to avoid?
>> Well, my number, my number one flag now is who's, who's already invested or who is investing. You look at, like, the London family, what, what, you know, London or Lunar Royalty came out a few, few months ago, and a no-brainer, just buy it. It was at $12 bucks. You get in at $14, $15. I told some of my friends, it's at $27 already, you know. So, who's invested? When, when some of these names like Michael Gentil, he's had a lot of success. If he likes a company, you know, I, I'm 90% there already. Like, or if the Londons like a company, what, who am I going to second guess their management? Like, their technical guys are the best of the best. If they're, they're in, you got to take a look at it. And other people, there's like John Robbins has had a lot of success, and, um, some of these other stables. So, um, Ross Bey is someone that has, you know, how many companies he's got. A new one coming up in Poland, aluminum medals. I went and saw that in November, and I, I'm 90% done with Ross. It's actually 99% because if Ross is putting a, a ton of money in his name, at, you know, going to be a chairman of a company, I like it. So, to me, that's the most important thing. I am not a mining engineer. I am not a geologist, Jesse. I know very good mining engineers, and I know good geologists, but, but when the best of the best are, are already supporting something, that, that to me, I don't need to be the smart Alec and say, talk myself out of why to do this. I've done a lot of that in my life where I try to do things myself. Uh, it's really hard. You need to have a group of people supporting a company. When you try to go it alone, it's just too darn difficult. So, let them have the first lift. I don't care. And for me now, at my age, where I am, the, the little that I have, I'm going to allocate capital that way. That is my flag. You know who's already vetted the deal. And they have to be very serious people. I do not have to be a smart Alec after that. You know, the rest are just details to talk yourself out of an idea. And, and for those guys when they're doing drill hole plays, you know, we can't control that. But I know that most of the money is going to go to drilling and not to promotion and other things, you know. So, that, that, that people should follow that. I think, um, who's invested is extremely important these days because it's so few people invest in junior mining now, Jesse. Uh, brokerage firms don't let their clients buy it. Brokers don't recommend it to their clients, you know. So, I think that, um, those guys that can write big checks and will continue to write them, I follow their, uh, their fingerprints and their, um, their tracks in the sand.
>> Yeah, some great points. Now, I'd like to end on the global energy picture. We did a really big podcast about this, but I just wonder where you see things today. Um, which commodities we've discussed so far do you think will be best poised to capture the value of that global energy evolution? and, and what is your vision looking out over the next, let's say, 3, 5, 10 years on how global energy will evolve?
>> 3 years is a good runway. After that, it gets murky, but always does because the, things are changing so fast. And I, I used to think that China would be very quickly become electrified, meaning their, their cars and buses and work vehicles would become electric. No one thought it would happen this fast. So, if you were forecasting in 2018, 19, 20, your models, they got it all wrong because they exceeded everyone's highest expectations. So, because that's already occurred, um, I'm of the belief that Europe and America are actually going to surprise people. We are going to, we're going to be climbing more and more towards electrification, where final energy usage, rest of world is 22%. That's going to go to 30% very quickly, probably in the early 2030s. And it, it looks like a smaller, sounds like a small number, but it is reinventing the wheel, Jesse. And the, what's now the new greatest prize? This was coined originally in 1938 when, uh, every deoly and his team went to assess the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia, and they reported back to the US government, particularly Harl Ickes, the secretary of the interior, the secretary, and he, the report said, sir, this is the single greatest prize in all history. And now, when you disintermediate global energy, Jesse, where China has done, where you take a structure, a residence, a factory, whatever, you have solar panels with, um, batteries and wind power. You don't, you, you disintermediate the way the global energy is done. The only reason you need an oil refinery or refinery for natural gas is for the chemicals or, or for rubber or things like that, but they're, they want to burn less and less petroleum fuels. So, oil is going to continue to be the, of course, the, the most important commodity for the next 20 years, but there's going to come a time, and that's, I don't care for my speculations because it's too far out, but it's, it's in the next 3 years, it's going to surprise people just how much more adoption there is in electrification, electric vehicles, countless hundreds of millions of batteries, lithium iron phosphate. It is going to surprise you. The CAGR growth rate in demand for lithium, 25%, and then it has to slow down. When we get to 3 million tons, it'll grow something maybe 10, 15%. You know, and the P, the purified phosphoric acid, whatever can be provided to the market from igneous type deposits, it's all going to get taken. And then they're going to have to scrap their way out of, uh, those sedimentary deposits, but they're going to be very dear and very special. And with copper, I think, um, the harder part there, it's already been through how many up and down cycles. The, the way that I'm playing copper now is going to be speculating with some drill hole plays, slowly, slowly coming out of some other things that I've already owned, but, and continuously. And I think I like that order then. So, you've got lithium, uh, phosphate, copper, and at the margin, when someone's doing a drill hole play, I'll play silver and gold. And, and those are always successful when you have a discovery. It doesn't matter the gold price, Jesse, you know. But it's hard to have a discovery. Investors are going to get bored, though. If gold stays here at $5,500, you know, people do get bored after a while. So, they're always, the speculator is always going to go back to the drill hole play.
>> Well, Johnny, tell us about your book, your website, anywhere you want to direct people online who want to follow your work.
>> I like to do things now on Twitter passively, but I like to share information there. But for anyone that has not read my book, I, I reread it about a year ago, and this came out in 2016. So, the, the way I put the data together, I wrote it like a novel to make an adventure about two friends. It's a younger electrician who enlightens his family doctor on how the world is changing. Now, of course, it happened faster than I thought it would. And just understanding the Chinese market and the, the power of of that demographics there, and over 400 million millennials, where 100 million graduated university, typically in STEM fields, science, technology, engineering, and math. We can't keep up with that in the West. We graduate lawyers, accountants, bureaucrats. How many engineers have graduated from America in the last 10 years? Small number. China, 100 million. And, and look at the result of that, you know, the new greatest prize is the disintermediation of the entire global energy mix. Already happened, and it's going to keep happening. And the biggest winners are going to be lithium, phosphate, and of course, copper, the base of it all.
>> Well, I'm going to put a link below to the book, "My Electrician Drives a Porsche." Um, so be sure to check that out as well as your website and X account so people can follow you there. Johnny, as always, it was a blast. Thanks for coming on.
>> I'll sign off again with JP Morgan's famous saying, "Go as far as you can see. When you get there, you'll see farther."
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