As demand for critical materials accelerates, can recycling keep pace? Justin Tolman examines the recycling outlook for copper, lithium, rare earths, silver and other essential materials, explaining why recycling will play an increasingly important role in strengthening supply chains, but why new mining will remain indispensable to meeting future demand.

Despite recent weakness in uranium equities, the sector's underlying fundamentals continue to strengthen. Rising long-term uranium prices, improving policy support and persistent supply constraints reinforce the long-term investment case as governments increasingly turn to nuclear power to meet energy security, electrification and decarbonization objectives.

As electricity demand accelerates and energy security becomes a global priority, lithium is emerging as a foundational material for modern power infrastructure. While electric vehicles remain an important source of demand, the rapid growth of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and data centers is creating new, long-term drivers for lithium consumption.

Copper’s strong April rebound highlights its resilience. The growing demand for electrification and energy security is colliding with tightening supply, and geopolitical turmoil is disrupting supply chains. This shift reinforces copper’s role as a strategic asset and supports a constructive outlook for both physical copper and copper mining equities. 

Rare earths have become a geopolitical priority—critical to defense, technology and energy—yet their supply chain remains heavily dominated by China, driving urgent demand for ex-China sources. As global investment accelerates to secure independent supply chains, producers outside China are positioned for structural growth. The Sprott Rare Earths Ex-China ETF (REXC) offers targeted exposure to this emerging opportunity at the center of a global realignment.

Lithium has surged back into the spotlight, with prices rising more than 125% over the past year as demand broadens beyond electric vehicles and governments begin treating the metal as a strategic resource. With supply disruptions, new policy tools and explosive growth in grid-scale energy storage, lithium is increasingly being repriced not just as a commodity, but as critical infrastructure.

Copper is breaking free from its old “Dr. Copper” reputation as strategic demand from electrification, AI infrastructure and defense drives prices and mining stocks toward record highs. With copper supply tight and demand increasingly mission-critical, the metal is being repriced as essential infrastructure.

For nearly three decades, Justin Tolman has chased discovery across more than 40 countries, applying boots-on-the-ground geology to transform mineral potential into economic value. Discover how a “renaissance geologist” transforms field insight into differentiated investment intelligence in a world where demand for precious metals and critical minerals is only accelerating.

Uranium enters 2026 with renewed momentum as spot prices move back above $100/lb, mining equities reprice materially, and utility demand re-emerges following prolonged under-contracting. Strengthening U.S. policy support and tightening supply conditions reinforce the case for higher incentive pricing and potential upside across physical uranium and mining equities.

Copper’s record run is being driven by tightening supply, strategic demand and rising policy risk, setting up a strong outlook for 2026. Major disruptions and collapsing treatment charges highlight a market firmly in deficit. With AI growth, defense spending and grid modernization accelerating demand, we believe copper and related equities remain well supported.

What are the 10 most important themes impacting global markets in 2026? We explore issues from deglobalization and fiscal dominance to the surge in gold, silver and critical materials, and provide our view of where opportunities and risks may be emerging.

Metals delivered standout performance in 2025, led by exceptional gains across the precious metals complex. Gold surged 64.58%, reaffirming its role as a core portfolio diversifier, while silver soared 147.95% and platinum climbed 127.04%, outperforming traditional asset classes significantly. Palladium added to the strength with a 77.51% gain, underscoring broad-based momentum across precious metals.