Lithium’s boom/bust cycle

After 15 years in the lithium space and three boom-bust cycles, Berry sees the market once again caught between extremes.

“In each cycle, prices have overshot on the upside and overcorrected on the downside,” he said, noting that lithium peaked around US$85,000 per metric ton in late 2022 — well above sustainable levels.

Fast forward to mid-2025, and the price has tumbled to just over US$8,000, a level Berry also considers unsustainable given the strength of long-term demand.

Despite price volatility, he still expects lithium demand to grow by 20 percent annually through the end of the decade — requiring the industry to double in size by 2030. But with investor hesitation and incentive pricing far off, capital is slow to flow into new supply.

“How is it supposed to double when the economics aren’t there?” he asked, warning that delays today could set the stage for the next inevitable boom. For now, opaque pricing and limited market visibility continue to challenge investors and developers alike.

Western refining capacity

During his panel discussion Berry suggested that the west look to the midstream segment of the battery metals supply chain as an opportunity for growth.

“I would fund the refining portion of the supply chain, whether that’s refining raw materials, lithium, nickel, what have you, or magnets, next generation technology. That to me, is really the bottom line and where the government should focus,” he told the attendees.

Berry expanded on his answer explaining that mines can take over a decade to be fully permitted while refining and processing sites have a much shorter lead time.

For Berry, the buildout of western refining and processing is the logical step in wresting some of the supply chain control out of China’s hands.

“If we’re talking about how we can lessen dependence on China? That’s how you do it. You strike a deal with raw material providers or producers. Maybe they’re Canadian, maybe they’re Australian, maybe it’s Chilean. Maybe it’s a country in Africa. But, the process of capacity is absolutely critical. It’s much faster to production,” he said.

Partnership and collaboration

While Berry is adamant that more refining capacity outside of China is needed, he is not opposed to strategic partnerships and alliances with the nation.

“It’s a US$500 billion a year relationship. You think about trade between the US and China, and I don’t even know if it’s feasible to unwind that,” he said during the panel.

“I don’t think it’s wise to be honest with you, but with respect to the EV supply chain, I just think, why wouldn’t we try and find a way to selectively partner and leverage each other’s strengths?”

Maritime Resources (TSXV:MAE) is a Canadian gold development company advancing the fully permitted, high-grade Hammerdown project in Newfoundland & Labrador’s prolific Baie Verte mining district. A past-producing asset, Hammerdown is shovel-ready and de-risked, with construction underway and first ore deliveries to the Pine Cove Mill anticipated between late summer and early fall 2025.

Hammerdown is uniquely positioned to capitalize on existing infrastructure, with close access to paved roads, power, ports, and Maritime’s wholly owned Pine Cove processing facility. Unlike many greenfield developers, Maritime is pursuing a low-capex, staged production strategy—leveraging its established infrastructure and skilled local workforce to reduce costs, mitigate risk, and fast-track value creation through near-term cash flow generation amid record-high gold prices.

Looking ahead, Maritime Resources aims to establish a 100,000 oz/year production platform by integrating nearby deposits—including Orion, Stoger Tight, and Deer Cove—and reactivating its 700 tpd Nugget Pond gold plant. The company’s extensive regional land package spans over 435 sq km of highly prospective terrain, with strong potential for gold, VMS, and porphyry-style mineralization.

Company Highlights

• Near-term Gold Production: First production targeted for H2/2025 from the fully permitted Hammerdown open pit project.
• High-grade Gold Reserves: 1.9 Mt at 4.46 g/t gold (272 koz) proven and probable reserves support initial 35,000-45,000 oz/year production.
• Low-CAPEX Startup: Initial capital estimated at C$15 to $20 million, among the lowest in the sector for a new mine, leveraging Maritime’s fully operational Pine Cove mill
• Owned Processing Infrastructure: Pine Cove Mill (1,300 tpd, operational) and the Nugget Pond gold plant (700 tpd CIP circuit, on standby).
• Exploration Upside: 435 sq km land package includes multiple brownfield and greenfield targets proximal to infrastructure.
• Institutional Backing: Strong support from Dundee Corporation, Eric Sprott and other institutions.
• Local Workforce Advantage: Fully staffed Pine Cove Mill with 100 percent local residents

This Maritime Resources profile is part of a paid investor education campaign.*

Click here to connect with Maritime Resources (TSXV:MAE) to receive an Investor Presentation

How AI is being deployed

In addition to benefiting project planning through better modeling and digital twin, AI is making mining more efficient, safe and environmentally responsible.

In exploration, startups like KoBold use machine learning to analyze geological data, drastically cutting the time and cost of identifying potential lithium, copper, nickel and cobalt deposits

Operationally, majors such as Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO), BHP (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), deploy AI-powered autonomous haul trucks, drills and predictive maintenance systems that have slashed downtime and fuel use by up to 15 percent, while boosting throughput by 10 to 15 percent.

On the environmental front, AI tools optimize water management, monitor air quality and reduce waste, BHP’s Escondida mine reportedly saved over 3 gigaliters of water and 118 gigawatt hours of energy since 2022.

While AI isn’t without its own controversy, usually arising from its energy consumption, Ober explained that AI integration can help reduce a mining site’s overall energy intensity.

It is estimated that one billion daily AI prompts utilize 340 megawatt hours of electricity each day, while a mining site can use upwards of 1000 – 5000 megawatt hours. According to data from Natural Resources Canada, global mining operations consume 3 percent – 6 percent of the world’s electricity.

Together, AI can help the mining sector better target deposits and reduce the amount of energy deployed.

“Drill holes (alone) use 3000 liters of diesel. And when you look at grinding, grinding ore is 70 percent of the mine’s electricity (consumption),” said Ober.

She added: So if you’re using the technology for scans, you’re able to use computer vision and scan a core, or look at the geography to reduce the number of drills, or the grinding exercise that you’re going through, then it can actually save 1000s of hours of energy, conserving more than it consumes.”

From policy bottlenecks to permit approvals

This efficiency has made AI data sets appealing to governments as well. Through initiatives like DARPA’s CriticalMAAS and a collaboration with the US Geological Survey, AI models can now transform geologic map processing — from years to mere days — by automating georeferencing and mineral feature extraction.

These tools help rapidly assess hundreds of critical minerals across vast regions, accelerating decision-making and reducing exploration risk.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s AI-driven metals forecasting program, now managed by the Critical Minerals Forum, models supply, pricing and policy scenarios to bolster US sourcing strategies — especially for rare earths, nickel and cobalt.

For Ober, AI can also be integral to the often extended permitting process, while also implementing ESG goals and best practices. She explained that at Kinterra, AI is already playing a key role in streamlining permitting assessments, one of the most complex hurdles in mine development.

The firm has built a closed-loop system using large language models layered with its own criteria and values, including permitting stages, Indigenous engagement and community sentiment. The tool filters thousands of data points — from state filings to news releases and emails — extracting only what’s relevant.

Jurisdiction-specific updates are then summarized and delivered directly into Microsoft Teams, offering a real-time, digestible overview of key permitting signals.

“We need the company and the community to be engaged,” she said. “We take a very proactive approach. We engage very early on.”

Industry wide Ober sees AI improving the efficiency and transparency of mining permitting.

“One of the biggest concerns we hear is around security,” said Ober. “But we already trust companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple with sensitive data every day. If you’re using legitimate tools with strong policies in place, it’s manageable.”

Ober believes AI’s biggest value lies in its ability to accelerate slow, document-heavy government processes.

“Permitting can stall a project for years — not because of technical issues, but because no one has time to read the documents,” she said. “That’s where AI can help. Large language models can extract key information, layer in governance or environmental criteria and summarize it in a way that’s actionable.”

To address the risk of accuracy, Kinterra has designed its systems to generate traceable outputs.

“You can click a link and go straight to the original document and quote,” she explained, adding that this level of transparency is crucial for regulators and investors alike.

“It’s hard to commit capital when you don’t know if or when a permit will be granted,” she said. “AI won’t replace people, but it can get us to decision points faster — something the entire sector needs.”

1. Santacruz Silver (TSX:SCZ)

Year-to-date gain: 321.82 percent
Market cap: C$387.88 million
Share price: C$1.16

Santacruz Silver is an Americas-focused silver producer with operations in Bolivia and Mexico. Its producing assets include a 45 percent stake in the Bolivar and Porco mines, which it shares with the Bolivian government, and a 100 percent ownership of the Caballo Blanco Group mines in Bolivia, along with the Zimapan mine in Mexico.

In addition to its producing assets, Santacruz also owns the greenfield Soracaya project, an 8,325 hectare land package located in Potosi, Bolivia. According to an August 2024 technical report, the site hosts an inferred resource of 34.5 million ounces of silver derived from 4.14 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 260 g/t.

In October 2021, Santacruz acquired Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF) 45 percent stake in the Bolivar and Porco mines and a 100 percent interest in the Soracaya project. Under the terms of the deal, Santacruz made an initial payment of US$20 million and was obligated to make an additional US$90 million over a four-year period from the closing of the transaction. Glencore also retained a 1.5 percent net smelter return.

The pair amended the deal in October 2024, giving Santacruz the option to either pay off the US$80 million base purchase price through annual US$10 million installments or to accelerate the repayment by paying US$40 million by November 2025. The deal also includes additional terms such as monthly payments to Glencore contingent on zinc pricing benchmarks.

Santacruz chose the accelerated option through a structured payment plan, which allows it to satisfy the base purchase price of the properties while saving US$40 million compared to the annual installment option. As of its third payment to Glencore on July 7, Santacruz has now paid US$25 million.

In its Q1 2025 production report released on June 12, Santacruz disclosed consolidated silver production of 1.59 million ounces, marking a 1 percent increase from the 1.58 million ounces produced during the same quarter in 2024.

Santacruz shares reached a year-to-date high of C$1.16 on July 7.

2. Almaden Minerals (TSX:AMM)

Year-to-date gain: 318.18 percent
Market cap: C$32.93 million
Share price: C$0.23

Almaden Minerals is a precious metals exploration company working to advance the Ixtaca gold-silver deposit in Puebla, Mexico. According to the company website, the deposit was discovered by Almaden’s team in 2010 and has seen more than 200,000 meters of drilling across 500 holes.

A July 2018 resource estimate shows measured resources of 862,000 ounces of gold and 50.59 million ounces of silver from 43.38 million metric tons of ore, and indicated resources of 1.15 million ounces of gold and 58.87 million ounces of silver from 80.76 million metric tons of ore with a 0.3 g/t cutoff.

In April 2022, Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the initial licenses issued in 2002 and 2003 would be reverted back to application status after the court found there had been insufficient consultation when the licenses were originally assigned.

Ultimately, the applications were denied in February 2023, effectively halting progress on the Ixtaca project. While subsequent court cases have preserved Almaden’s mineral rights, it has yet to restore the licenses to continue work on the project.

In June 2024, Almaden announced it had confirmed up to US$9.5 million in litigation financing that will be used to fund international arbitrations proceedings against Mexico under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

In a December update, the company announced that several milestones had been achieved, including the first session with the tribunal, at which the company was asked to submit memorial documents outlining its legal arguments by March 20, 2025. At that time, the company stated it would vigorously pursue the claim but preferred a constructive resolution with Mexico.

On March 21, the company indicated that it had submitted the requested documents, claiming US$1.06 billion in damages. The memorial document outlines how Mexico breached its obligations and unlawfully expropriated Almaden’s investments without compensation.

The most recent update from the proceedings occurred on May 23, when the company announced that it had established a key personnel retention agreement (KPA) with CFO Korm Trieu and Executive Vice President Douglas McDonald. The KPA is intended as a long-term incentive program to retain employees for their knowledge of the proceedings, and the employees will need to perform certain duties related to the claims.

Under the terms of the agreement, the key personnel will split 4 percent of net proceeds, to a maximum of US$12 million, should Almaden’s claim prove successful.

Almaden shares reached a year-to-date high of C$0.245 on June 30.

3. Avino Silver and Gold (TSX:ASM)

Year-to-date gain: 296.85 percent
Market cap: C$710.8 million
Share price: C$5.04

Avino Silver and Gold Mines is a precious metals miner with two primary silver assets: the producing Avino silver mine and the neighboring La Preciosa project in Durango, Mexico.

The Avino mine is capable of processing 2,500 metric tons of ore per day, and according to its FY24 report released on January 21 the mine produced 1.1 million ounces of silver, 7,477 ounces of gold and 6.2 million pounds of copper last year. Overall, the company saw broad production increases with silver rising 19 percent, gold rising 2 percent and copper increasing 17 percent year over year.

In addition to its Avino mining operation, Avino is working to advance its La Preciosa project toward the production stage. The site covers 1,134 hectares, and according to a February 2023 resource estimate, hosts a measured and indicated resource of 98.59 million ounces of silver and 189,190 ounces of gold.

In a January 15 update, Avino announced it had received all necessary permits for mining at La Preciosa and begun underground development at La Preciosa. It is now developing a 350 meter mine access and haulage decline. The company said the first phase at the site is expected to cost less than C$5 million, which will be funded from cash reserves.

In Avino’s Q1 financial report released on May 13, the company noted that work was progressing at the site according to plan, with blasting and construction of the decline underway. It added that a new drill was working on the haulage ramp to the Gloria and Abundancia veins.

On the production and finance side, the company reported a record quarterly after-tax income of US$5.6 million, 10 percent higher than the US$5.1 million during Q4 2024. Avino also reported a 6 percent increase in silver production to 265,681 ounces. The company attributed the gain to an increase in feeder grade.

Avino shares reached a year-to-date high of C$5.04 on July 7.

4. Excellon Resources (TSXV:EXN)

Year-to-date gain: 238.89 percent
Market cap: C$57.43 million
Share price: C$0.305

Excellon Resources is an exploration and development company that is advancing its recently acquired Mallay silver mine in Peru back into production.

Mining at the site produced 6 million ounces of silver, 45 million pounds of zinc and 35 million pounds of lead between 2012 and 2018 before the operation was placed on care and maintenance.

On June 24, Excellon announced that it had completed its acquisition of Minera CRC, and its Mallay mine and Tres Cerros gold-silver project in Peru.

Excellon began the court-supervised acquisition process in October 2024. On March 11, Excellon announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with Adar Mining and Premier Silver, which resolved any outstanding disputes between Adar, Premier, and Minera, and paved the way to complete the transaction.

In the June release, the company stated that it will immediately commence the next phase of its strategy to restart the mine. As Mallay is fully permitted with infrastructure in place, Excellon is aiming for run-rate silver production in Q2 of next year.

Additionally, the company announced on July 3 that it had appointed Mike Hoffman to its board of directors. Hoffman has been in the mining sector for over 35 years, and has experience with developing mines in Latin America.

Shares in Excellon reached a year-to-date high of C$0.315 on July 4.

5. Andean Precious Metals (TSX:APM)

Year-to-date gain: 182.61 percent
Market cap: C$481.71 million
Share price: C$3.25

Andean Precious Metals is a precious metals company with a pair of operating assets in the Americas.

Its primary silver-producing operation is the San Bartolomé facility in the Potosi Department of Bolivia. The onsite processing facility has an annual ore capacity of 1.8 million metric tons. The company has transitioned from conventional mining and is processing feed from both its low-cost fines deposit facility and third-party ore purchases.

Its other producing asset is the Golden Queen mine in Kern County, California, US. It hosts a 12,000 MT per day cyanide heap leach and Merril-Crowe processing facility. A mineral reserve statement showed a measured and indicated silver resource of 11.24 million ounces from 41.81 million MT at an average grade of 8.37 g/t silver. The company acquired Golden Queen from Auvergne Umbrella in November 2023 for total consideration of US$15 million.

On May 6, Andean released its Q1 operating and financial results. During the first quarter of the year, it produced 925,000 ounces of silver across its operations, up 0.9 percent over Q1 2024. However, the company noted that its revenues increased 43.9 percent year-over-year, reaching US$62 million compared to US$43.1 million. The company attributed this increase to higher silver and gold prices.

The most recent news from the company came on June 2 when it announced it entered into an exclusive, long-term agreement with the Bolivian state-owned mining company Corporacion Minera de Bolivia to acquire up to 7 million metric tons of oxide ore from mining concessions in Bolivia.

The ore is located within a 250 kilometer radius of the processing facility at its San Bartolomé operation, where it will process the ore. Under the terms of the 10 year agreement, Andean will immediately receive an initial 250,000 metric tons of ore, with the remaining to be delivered in tranches of 50,000 MT.

Shares in Andean reached a year-to-date high of C$3.25 on July 7.

Decarbonizing the grid key to BEV success

The ICCT attributes the growing emissions advantage of electric cars to the rapid transition toward renewable energy across the EU.

In 2025, renewables are expected to make up 56 percent of electricity generation, up from 38 percent in 2020. This trend is projected to continue, reaching 86 percent by 2045, based on data from the EU’s Joint Research Centre.

Even with their higher production emissions—largely due to battery manufacturing—electric cars close the “emissions debt” within the first 17,000 kilometers of use, typically within the first one to two years in Europe.

Another purpose of its updated LCA, according to ICCT, was to counter widespread misinformation about electric vehicles’ environmental impacts.

“We hope this study brings clarity to the public conversation, so that policymakers and industry leaders can make informed decisions,” said Dr. Georg Bieker, co-author of the report. “We’ve recently seen auto industry leaders misrepresenting the emissions math on hybrids.”

“Life-cycle analysis is not a choose-your-own-adventure exercise. Our study accounts for the most representative use cases and is grounded in real-world data. Consumers deserve accurate, science-backed information,” he added.

A common misperception, the ICCT notes, is that electric cars are worse for the climate because of their manufacturing footprint.

However, the study concludes that failing to account for the evolving electricity mix and real-world driving patterns leads to distorted comparisons that undervalue electric cars’ advantages.

The full report can be viewed on the ICCT’s website.