Categories: Mining Stocks
Topics: Copper Stocks

Resource Expert Jeff Phillips on What’s Driving the 2025 Copper Bull & A Few of His Top Junior Picks

 

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is one of the most successful contrarian speculators in the natural resource space — Mr. Jeff Phillips. Jeff, how are you today?

Jeff Phillips: I'm doing excellent, Gerardo. The last time we talked I had a bit of a cold so I’m feeling absolutely wonderful today! 

Gerardo Del Real: That’s awesome to hear and it’s great to have you back on. I always appreciate you making the time, Jeff. 

We live in interesting times. As you know, copper futures — driven in part by new tariffs — hit record highs over the past week. And frankly, even without tariffs, there’s a strong argument to be made that structural deficits in copper will persist for many years to come.

I recently had an eye-opening conversation with Ken Brinsden from Patriot Battery Metals (TSX: PMET)(OTC: PMETF) where we talked about the need for a domestic, independent supply chain of critical metals. Copper definitely falls under that banner.

We’re seeing governments — here in the US and elsewhere — starting to make direct investments in mining companies to help secure supply. So I thought it would be a timely conversation to get your take on copper and how you see things playing out over the next several years.

Jeff Phillips: Sure, Gerardo, and that could be a very long conversation so I’ll try and boil it down to a few key bullet points. And as you asked me earlier off-air, I’ll also mention a few copper stocks I like and am involved in.

A lot of people now call copper the new oil, and I’ve been around long enough to remember when it was just Dr. Copper because it has a Ph.D. on the US economy, so to speak. Copper is ubiquitous, and its uses keep expanding with the electrification-of-everything, including AI data center buildouts and more.

The way I see it, the tariffs are just short-term noise. The real signal is the underlying supply-demand imbalance, which already existed before the tariffs. Copper was trading at $5.20 per pound prior to any new policy moves — so the uptrend was already in place.

And copper is going higher still. And much like the broader resource sector, that move hasn’t yet been reflected in the equities. We’ve seen gold run, and historically that’s how it plays out: hard assets move first, and then the stocks follow. I think copper producers here in the US will start seeing stronger margins, and that’ll eventually bring more attention back to the junior space.

Right now, a lot of the juniors and mid-cap developers are still lagging because the major producers haven’t shown those fatter bottom lines just yet — but it’s coming. You also hear a lot of talk about AI and how much copper these data centers are going to require. And it’s not just AI. It’s cloud computing, it’s electrification, it’s building materials, and a lot more. The structural deficit is growing… and we haven’t developed meaningful new supply in decades.

China has done a good job locking up deposits that Western banks haven’t been able to finance for the past 20 years. And now we’re waking up to the reality that we’re heavily reliant on unfriendly jurisdictions for many critical metals including copper.

Around 55% to 60% of global copper supply gets refined in China. So having a domestic — or at least a North American — supply chain is more important than ever. You’re seeing that shift start to happen. 

Look at the Resolution Copper project in Arizona. It was stuck in permitting for years… and now it’s moving forward quickly under the current administration. So yes, copper is getting more interesting and especially in the right jurisdictions.

Gerardo Del Real: And speaking of jurisdiction, Jeff, you know I can’t have you on without asking for a few of the speculations you’re finding attractive in the space right now.

Jeff Phillips: Sure, and as you know, Gerardo, I tend to speculate on the front end, and then I consult. I often become a big shareholder in the companies I follow, then do some consulting to help ensure they’re spending my money — and my friends’ money — wisely as they explore. 

So I like to be early in the curve. I often joke with a friend of mine who does billion-dollar mine financings: I’m the front end and he’s the back end as I’m out there trying to find stuff.

And look, Gerardo, this is high risk. So any of your listeners out there need to understand that everything I’m talking about is high risk. But frankly, I think most of the financial markets are high risk right now. Everything’s trading near record highs.

That said, I believe we’re entering an explosive period for the resource space. There’ll be hiccups. But over the next 10 years, I think this sector outperforms, and I think the broader markets are going to lag by comparison.

You're going to see rotation into copper, gold, lithium, and I think you’re even going to see nickel and zinc catching bids. These are the building blocks of where we’re headed. So I’ll give you a couple of names but, again, with that disclaimer.

One stock I’m very interested in — and it’s drilling right now — is GreenLight Metals (TSX-V: GRL)(OTC: GRLMF). It’s focused predominantly in Wisconsin. It was a private company for about four years. Honestly, it shouldn’t have been private that long. I was getting frustrated.

It came together through a merger involving Ewan Downie’s group. He’s a solid entrepreneur in the space. Wisconsin used to be a big mining state. Rio Tinto had copper production there back in the day. But the state had a moratorium on mining for about 20 years so the industry basically shut down.

Over the past four or five years, that’s changed. The moratorium was lifted, and the state is once again mining-friendly. GreenLight and its predecessor moved quickly to tie up a lot of the old prospects and known assets across Wisconsin. Now, with a friendlier state government and growing federal interest in securing domestic supply chains, I think GreenLight is very well-positioned.

They’re currently drilling the Bend project, and we should see drill results within the next month. They also have a project in Nevada with a plan to joint venture that out. It’s in the Walker Lane trend — a very well-known part of Nevada.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see a JV deal come together soon, which would mean someone else spending money to drill and hopefully make a discovery. But my primary interest is in Wisconsin.

These are VMS-type deposits — volcanogenic massive sulfides — that have been mined before. GreenLight has managed to secure a number of them, and I think the upcoming drill results could be exciting. This isn’t blind grassroots exploration by the way.

The stock is trading around C$0.22 with a market cap of around C$15 million. I own a fair chunk of shares, and I also consult for them. So that’s one name I’m watching closely.

Gerardo Del Real: And I’ll be fully transparent, I’m a shareholder as well. I participated in the same financing with you. We were stuck in it for several years while it was private but I agree with you that it looks like it’s going to be worth the wait.

And again, the market cap is absolutely tiny — just C$15 million — for a company with multiple US-based copper-gold assets, a first-mover advantage, and advanced-stage exploration. They’ve drilled before, they’ve hit before, and I’m excited to see what comes next.

But I’m not letting you go just yet, Jeff. Can I get another name or two?

Jeff Phillips: Sure, Gerardo. A little higher up on the risk curve is a company that’s been sort of dormant for a while — Kutcho Copper (TSX-V: KC)(OTC: KCCFF). 

Their flagship Kutcho project is in British Columbia, and it’s actually fairly advanced. It’s a medium-sized copper-zinc project; ~22 million tonnes grading around 2.2% copper equivalent for roughly 1.1 billion pounds of copper.

It’s at the Feasibility stage. So this is a known asset with strong exploration potential. But that side of the story hasn’t really advanced because of how tough the market has been over the past five years. Now, with copper prices where they are and where they’re heading, I think that changes. 

Kutcho may bring in a partner to fund exploration or they might get taken out entirely. There’s a real asset there. The stock trades around C$0.18 and has a market cap of roughly C$27 million. It’s in a Tier-1 jurisdiction with transparent permitting and good infrastructure. 

Importantly, there’s strong financial backing. Capstone Mining is a major shareholder. And Wheaton Precious Metals has a financing package in place at $100 million total with over $34 million already invested.

Wheaton is a big name in the space, and that kind of support doesn’t go unnoticed. I think Kutcho wakes up… and when it does, it’ll be because of these copper prices. It’s one I like a lot right now, and one that speculators should definitely put on their radar and research further.

Gerardo Del Real: Alright, one more… either a copper or gold name.

Jeff Phillips: Copper or gold… well, Gerardo, I’ll think I’ll stick with copper since this is a copper-themed conversation.

I’m a shareholder in Aldebaran Resources (TSX-V: ALDE)(OTC: ADBRF). They’re a past client, although I don’t consult for them anymore. They have a very advanced project called Altar down in Argentina. 

The company’s CEO, John Black, is a successful mining entrepreneur. He sold his first company to First Quantum for around $450 million. Needless to say, shareholders made money on that deal.

He now runs two companies: Regulus Resources and Aldebaran. Both are solid but I’ll focus on Aldebaran for this conversation. I can’t give you the exact numbers off the top of my head but it’s a massive copper deposit that’s lower grade but significant in scale.

What really stands out is the quality of their partners. South32 is already a major shareholder. And Rio Tinto recently signed a deal that could amount to as much as $250 million for a potential 20% stake in the Altar project.

The market cap for Aldebaran is around $270 million so if Rio Tinto goes through with the full deal, it implies the project is worth quite a bit more. They also have strong institutional support. For example, Route One is Aldebaran’s largest shareholder and controls around 44% of the shares.

Now, Aldebaran is a larger market cap play compared to the other two names I mentioned, but like those, it still carries risk. That said, John Black has been very successful in the past and has Aldebaran moving in the right direction… and he’s done a great job bringing in high-quality partners to limit shareholder dilution.

So yes, Aldebaran is definitely one worth a closer look.

Gerardo Del Real: It’s a massive project. And technically, you gave us both gold and copper because those deposits are extremely well-endowed in both metals.

Jeff Phillips: You’re absolutely right.

Gerardo Del Real: Jeff, always a pleasure. Anything else you’d like to add before I let you go?

Jeff Phillips: Just this — patience is key in this market. The resource space is like a lazy river. You float around for a while enjoying the scenery, and then every 10 years or so you hit the rapids. That’s when things get exciting… and I think we’re about to enter one of those really fun stretches.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’ll be smooth rafting all the way. There’ll be plenty of sharp rocks sticking out of those rapids. But if you’re positioned well and you’re not overly concerned about the short-term noise, I think you’ll find we’re heading into what’s setting up as one of the best resource markets I’ve seen in my 30-year career.

Gerardo Del Real: That’s music to my ears! And with 100-degree heat here in Austin, a lazy river sounds like an absolute blast right now. Jeff, thank you for your time as always. I look forward to having you back on again soon.

Jeff Phillips: Thank you, Gerardo. Have a great day.

Gerardo Del Real: Cheers.