Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra is scouring for projects in the US as President Donald Trump cuts red tape and the outlook for metals like copper and gold remains bright.
Giustra — a key figure in the creation and development of Endeavour Mining Corp., Goldcorp and Leagold Mining Corp. over the past quarter century — has built up another stable of projects from Colombia to Botswana. Now, his office staffed by 75 to 80 people is exploring opportunities in US copper-gold deposits, among others.
“I haven’t nailed one down yet, but yes, we’re looking,” he said in an interview. “The US under Trump has finally figured out that they’re way behind the eight ball on critical minerals, and they’re trying to secure those supply chains.”
In the US, it takes an average of 29 years from the discovery of a copper deposit to the start of production — the longest development time in the world after Zambia. The current administration has invoked emergency powers to boost the ability of the US to produce critical minerals, vowing to speed up permitting and prioritize production on federal land.
Giustra’s search for his next mining investments isn’t limited to the US, with only a handful of countries ruled out. Asked about his preference of metals, he said: “I love gold. I love copper. I love silver. I love uranium. I’m not that crazy about lithium right now, there’s just too much of it.”
While bargains are getting harder to find as more money flows into mining, Giustra’s approach is different to most in that he identifies distressed assets that can be turned around.
Gold, he says, is his favorite topic. Giustra sees the precious metal — up about 40% in the past year — at just the beginning of a bull run amid a nascent de-dollarization trend as US debt piles up.
“I just can’t see how they can turn the ship around,” he said, referring to America’s mounting debt. “There has to be, at some point, a global monetary system reset, and I believe that is already in the works.”
Besides mining, Giustra founded film studio Lionsgate and is heavily engaged in philanthropy. He’s also into technology, investing in and advising Streamex, a tokenization firm focused on commodities. The unit of BioSig Technologies Inc. just entered into agreements for $1.1 billion in financing as it looks to become a major holder of gold.
“I know very little about technology, but I do understand that tokenization of real world assets is where the world is going,” Giustra said. “This is going to allow a much bigger audience to participate in gold, which is the part that got my attention.”
(By James Attwood)