Govind Friedland

businesswire.com/news/home/2026… Major move for the global leader in pulsed power: @IPulseGroup acquires CSI Technologies of California, bringing high-energy, high-voltage capacitor expertise in-house. This strengthens our domestic supply chain for defense manufacturing, critical fusion components, next-generation geothermal, mining, and agricultural applications. This acquisition accelerates scalable clean-tech solutions that lower costs and unlock critical natural resources without compromise. High-impact energy and materials technology—built in the USA 🇺🇸

Excited to share this breakthrough in sustainable agriculture! 🚜⚡ I-Pulse has launched iTerra — combining AI (95% accuracy in spotting weeds) with precision high-voltage pulses (just 5ms) to zap weeds at the root without chemicals, preserving soil health and enabling truly organic, regenerative farming. No herbicides. No resistance issues. Healthier fields and food for the future. Large-scale trials kick off Q2 2026. Read more: briefglance.com/articles/farmi…

The war on glyphosate is heating up: weed resistance is surging, regulations are tightening, and health concerns (including potential cancer links) keep growing. Enter iTerra (an I-Pulse company): AI-powered vision (up to 95% accuracy in early trials) spots weeds vs. crops, while tractor-towed robotic wands deliver precision high-voltage pulses straight to the root in just 5 milliseconds, killing the entire plant permanently. Unlike laser competitors (e.g., Carbon Robotics LaserWeeder), which often scorch leaves/meristems but leave roots alive, letting tough perennials regrow, iTerra eliminates weeds roots and all. The dead plants stay in the soil, decomposing naturally as nutrients, adding compost and preserving soil microbiology for truly regenerative, organic farming. No chemicals. No residues. Healthier soil, water, and food. A real game-changer for farmers. ipulse-group.com/i-pulse-launch…

If an adversary seeks to conquer you, they begin at the base. Power, liberty, freedom, and well-being rest on industrial capacity and materials. Defense systems, electrification, AI, energy, and Main Street all draw from the same metals, alloys, chemicals, and factories. Control the matter and the machinery that shapes it, and you quietly inherit the power above it. Freedom that depends on another nation’s mines, smelters, and factories lives on borrowed time. That clock has already been ticking for to long . Time to act .

theoregongroup.com/commodities/ni… Strait of Hormuz isn’t just an oil chokepoint, it’s now strangling sulphuric acid supply, the hidden “master chemical” for processing, nickle, copper, cobalt, uranium & more. The Middle East supplies ~24% of global sulphur (50% of seaborne trade), essential for acid used in HPAL nickel (Indonesia imports 75%, low inventories), African oxide copper leaching (~2Mt/y sulphur, 90% Middle East-sourced), DRC cobalt (70% global supply), & fertilizers (60% acid demand). Disruption risks quick output cuts: some HPAL plants keep just 1-2 months inventory; oxide copper ops could close in ~3 weeks without acid. As previously warned, traders are struggling to source any, prices are surging across Africa. Even before the Iran war started Zambia banned exports of sulfuric acid, and disruption of >3 weeks & copper oxide ops shut down. This exposes the fragility: geopolitics + tight markets = cascading bottlenecks in electrification metals. By contrast, the integrated sulfide copper producer @IvanhoeMines_ Kamoa-Kakula Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩 does not consume sulfuric acid, in fact produces huge amounts of it on-site as a by-product of smelting and sells to oxide copper producers and consumers who need it to heap leach and in their processing plants. At scale Ivanhoe’s Kamoa smelter can produce >750,000t/year sulfuric acid while other operators face soaring costs or halt. This is a huge structural advantage for Ivanhoe Mines. Build resilient, diversified chains now. Intention without physical security is illusion.

@business Great family and incredible Dynasty 🔝

For the Lundins, a Swedish-Canadian family that controls a multibillion-dollar mining and oil empire, C$17.5 million may not seem like a big investment. But it becomes so when it delivers a 2,049% return. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The Syerston feasibility study is a critical step toward secure Western scandium supply amid rising geopolitical urgency. Low $120M capex, $534/kg Sc₂O₃ operating costs, and 60 tonnes/year over 32 years position Sunrise as a scalable, low-cost producer from one of the world’s largest and highest-grade deposits—vital for aerospace/defense alloys, AI fuel cells, 6G wireless, and more. Scandium is now indispensable for innovation and security. With China dominating and restricting supply, US/Australia-recognized projects like Syerston are urgent, not optional. Proud to back this game-changer. Western resilience depends on strategic minerals like this. mining.com/sunrise-energy…

These photos capture a truly pivotal moment: historic diplomacy unfolding in the opulent halls of Miraflores Palace, with its tropical courtyard and ornate meeting rooms with tall ceilings and crystal chandeliers. That epic group shot in the courtyard scream “grand strategy meets grand architecture.” The second photo with @SecretaryBurgum sitting across from @delcyrodriguezv nails the high-stakes vibe: a packed press room with the massive screen beaming in key players (and bridging continents), everyone clapping like they’ve just sealed a deal bigger than the room itself. It’s captures the serious “energy dominance council in action.” Since Secretary Burgum’s visit was all about unlocking Venezuela’s massive reserves of oil, gold, and those scarce critical minerals that power everything from EVs to defense tech. The third photo is pure networking gold: me flanked by impressive colleagues (Delcy’s red suit and confident smiles say powerhouse team), right under a classic heroic portrait, a symbolic backdrop for conversations that could reshape supply chains for both nations. And the last photo during outdoor presser on those iconic red-carpeted steps? Classic power poss: Burgum and Rodríguez side by side, microphones ready, with the palace’s colonial elegance as the perfect stage. It’s the visual proof that “Trump speed” reforms are moving fast: cutting red tape, offering security guarantees for investors, and paving the way for billions to flow towards responsible investment that benefits Venezuelans with jobs and prosperity while bolstering U.S. resource security against global competitors. Fun twist: Who knew geology and geopolitics could look this glamorous? We went from boardrooms to baroque ballrooms, turning critical minerals into a red-carpet event. Momentum like this doesn’t just build walls, it builds bridges (and hopefully a few new mines). It was great being part of the delegation that’s making “win-win” actually happen.. here’s to more photos like these, but with signed deals in the frame next time! 🚀⛏️🇺🇸🇻🇪

US Interior Sec. Burgum highlights Venezuela’s new mining law push, security guarantees for companies, and imminent licenses, paving the way for impact investments in the country’s vast mineral wealth. Momentum is building.. mining.com/web/venezuela-…

Just back from an amazing trip to Caracas, where I met with Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, her Ministers, leading international and local entrepreneurs along with U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and reps from the US State Dept and Energy Dominance Council. Discussions focused on what’s needed to unlock Venezuela’s vast mineral & energy opportunities—moving at “Trump speed” to drive investment, reform mining and related laws, and secure critical resources for the shared benefit of the Venezuelan people and American Industry. Huge potential ahead! (Linking to the Bloomberg piece on the trip: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…)

Warehouses of rock don’t win wars. Project Vault must stock processed and defined defense-ready materials—not just ore—to truly harden the US industrial base against adversarial mineral chokepoints.
 Yesterday’s piece by the Atlantic Council, coauthored by @MBazilian, Director of Payne Institute study’s the interface between the recently announced Project Vault stockpile and the National Defense stockpile.  It will need some careful decision making. #CriticalMinerals #ProjectVault

@BiotechHBI Colorado School of Mines - Mineral Economics executive program is well worth exploring.

@govind_ivanhoe I am becoming increasingly interested in this sector. I have a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry and I have worked as a patent agent for top life science law firms for nearly a decade. Where would someone with my background start if they were interested in pivoting?

For the last 25+ years I’ve hammered this message: Massive shortage of talent in critical minerals—from exploration geologists to mining engineers, process engineers, metallurgists with smelting/refining expertise. People of my generation who went into mining were long viewed as ethically & morally inferior—tied to a “dirty,” polluting industry seen as evil or low-status. Now, with Trump’s push to crush China’s dominance, stories like this are finally emerging. Exciting shift! Let’s Make Metals and Mining Great Again!! ⛏️🇺🇸 #MakeMiningGreatAgain #CriticalMinerals washingtonpost.com/ripple/2026/02…

The new study by @MBazilian at @payneinstitute and colleagues from the @UMich shows that to meet even basic global demand, copper production must grow drastically — and current prices simply don’t incentivize the investment needed to bring that supply online. Today’s roughly 23 Mt mined annually must rise toward ~37 Mt by 2050 just for business-as-usual — and nearly triple that for full electrification and EV adoption. If we have war could be multiples of that, as history shows. Every bullet casing is made from copper. To incentivize new production, the study argues that copper prices would need to at least double and @robert_ivanhoe of @IvanhoeMines_ is saying copper must at least triple to incentive new supply. If the financial players jump in and the smartest and biggest trader is @BintasKost72793 of @Mercuria I wouldn’t be surprised to see +$35k/ton “opening soon at a theater near you.” We saw oil perform a 7 bagger from the bottom, why couldn’t we see the same with Copper? news.umich.edu/cost-of-copper…

@lukas_fahle Working on a plan. Lots of smart people working on this case. Never underestimate American ingenuity when’s its back is against the wall.

@govind_ivanhoe Fully agree - it’s been talked about since at least 2018 when I started at CSM. How do we solve it?

@KJKLtd Today no, but tomorrow yes, or else..

@govind_ivanhoe The secondary issue mining has is that, once graduated, the person has to now go work at a mine, in a small town, in the middle of nowhere, amongst a mainly blue collar workforce. Mining isn't a downtown job with all the intangibles that brings. Mining ain't a tech bro job.

@jeffcurrey makes a solid point: hard assets’ CapEx depreciates far slower than Big Tech’s. A copper mine’s mill, concentrator, flotation cells, and processing plant last decades with slow depreciation—unlike server farms or data centers that obsolesce quickly. With miners <1% of the S&P, the great AI/tech capex rollover will almost certainly “end in tears.”

@robert_ivanhoe says the “penny has finally dropped” on the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s importance in supplying critical minerals to the US and other Western economies. bloomberg.com/news/articles/… bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The Innovation Paradox in mining is stark and self evident: the industry that moves mountains daily remains stubbornly reluctant to embrace new ideas, new tech, or new ways of working. High stakes, capital intensity, and a culture wired for flawless execution create a perfect storm—where the very discipline that keeps operations running smoothly, safely and profitably also kills experimentation before it begins. The mining industry masters moving and processing billions of tonnes of rock each year… yet freezes when asked to try something new. This is the Innovation Paradox: reliability chokes reinvention. Time to stop mining the same old ideas.