Brett Heath

Speaker predicts 2026 will be the year copper makes a material move higher, citing a structural supply deficit that will worsen annually for the next decade against exponential demand growth. Demand is accelerating from AI, data centers, robotics, and future grid upgrades, while new mine supply is constrained by 20-30 year lead times, preventing a rapid supply response. The fundamental supply/demand imbalance is so acute that prices could rise "significantly higher than even the most bullish forecasts." Widespread substitution with other metals like aluminum or a sharp, prolonged global economic downturn crushing demand.

Speaker states the world is moving capital into gold as US treasuries are no longer seen as a tier-one reserve asset due to debt sustainability issues. Central banks and entities like Tether are major, non-price-sensitive buyers. As the US faces a $40T debt refinancing wall at higher rates, leading toward a potential "soft default," global capital seeks a neutral, liquid reserve asset without counterparty risk. Gold is viewed as the primary beneficiary of this structural capital shift, with significant remaining buying from institutions needed to diversify away from US debt. A rapid, credible resolution to US fiscal deficits and a restoration of global confidence in US debt management.

Speaker describes Metalla's portfolio of ~100 royalties on high-quality, long-life assets as the best way to get leveraged, free-carried exposure to rising gold and copper prices, with investments made at lower prices now generating significant cash flow. The royalty model provides non-dilutive, perpetual mineral rights with no further capital outlay, capturing the upside from operator-funded exploration and mine expansion, particularly in a rising metal price environment. The company is "very well positioned" to benefit from the multi-decade thesis for gold (as a reserve asset) and copper (for the new economy), with a portfolio built in the down cycle now entering its cash-generating phase. Operational failures at the underlying mining properties or adverse changes in jurisdiction-specific mining laws and taxes.