A Word of Caution, Naturally
Now, before you rush off and remortgage the house, let’s be pragmatic. There is no such thing as a free lunch, especially in the world of commodities. Mining is a messy, expensive, and volatile business. Mineral prices can swing about wildly, and a single tweet from a world leader could change the entire landscape overnight. These projects take years, sometimes decades, to come to fruition, so this is not a game for the impatient. Any warming of relations between the US and China could take the heat out of this diversification drive, at least temporarily. Investing here requires a strong stomach and a long-term view, but the underlying logic of the West wanting to control its own destiny seems, to me at least, pretty solid.