The Most Unpopular Boom on Earth

Monday’s essay about mining sparked a flood of reactions.

Some curious, some furious, and many excited about the investable opportunities this new industrial era is revealing.

A few readers argued that mining should be outlawed entirely.

One subscriber even called me Satan for suggesting it’s a good time to consider investing.

I’m not here to argue with anyone’s feelings.

I’m here to point out a simple truth: modern life doesn’t exist without mining.

That reality isn’t going away because it cannot.

We all feel a visceral reaction when we think about mines.

The images that come to mind — dust, destruction, heavy machines, scars on the earth — make it easy to believe that mining is something humanity should have evolved beyond.

But here’s the truth: every ounce of progress depends on what we pull from the ground.

The electricity in your home, the copper in your phone, and the rare-earth magnets that move your EV all begin with mining.

As societies grow richer and more technologically advanced, their relationship with mining changes. We extract more total material, yet we use each unit of resource more efficiently than ever before.

Recycling rates are climbing, precision metallurgy is reducing waste, and digital mapping now allows for pinpoint extraction that leaves smaller scars.

The story of mining is, in many ways, the story of civilization learning to scale wisely rather than recklessly. It’s a reminder that progress is measured not just in what we take, but in how much value we create from what we take.

How Much Have We Really Mined?

According to global data, humanity has extracted roughly 90–100 billion tonnes of raw materials each year in recent decades and built around 1 trillion tonnes of human-made mass.

Everything from buildings to bridges to smartphones is included in that number.

Even if you generously add up all that we’ve mined across history, say 1 to 10 trillion tonnes, it’s still almost nothing compared to the Earth’s total mass of 5.97 × 10²⁴ kilograms.

To put this in perspective, imagine the entire planet shrunk to the size of a backyard swimming pool, let’s call it about 20,000 gallons of water.

If the Earth were that 20,000-gallon pool, all the material humans have ever mined would amount to somewhere between a few drops and a fraction of a teaspoon. I’ve heard some estimates that put it at no more than a cup of water from that pool.

That doesn’t mean the local impacts of mining are trivial. In fact, far from it. Done poorly, mining can devastate landscapes and lives.

But it does show that the popular idea of a planet “running out” of material is emotionally powerful yet physically misleading.

We have indeed moved mountains, but on a planetary scale, we’ve barely scratched the surface.

Mining responsibly and intelligently is about continuity.

Civilization depends on the careful extraction and renewal of the materials that sustain it.

The arc of civilization has always bent around our ability to extract, refine, and reinvent the resources beneath our feet.

Every leap forward, from bronze to steel to silicon, has been built on better ways to transform matter into capability.

Today, that transformation is accelerating again. Mining is evolving into a high-tech frontier of automation, robotics, and precision chemistry.

The next generation of mines will be cleaner, more efficient, and in many cases partially autonomous.

Artificial intelligence and remote sensing are already being used to minimize waste and improve safety, while closed-loop recycling and advanced metallurgy are extending the life of what we’ve already extracted.

Rather than a step backward, this represents a deeper evolution.

An adaptive leap that merges centuries of industrial knowledge with modern technology. 

Civilization is rediscovering its foundation and upgrading it for the 21st century.

Capital markets are beginning to catch on. The smartest money in the world is quietly positioning in the assets that power everything else: energy infrastructure, mineral supply, and grid stability.

Which brings us to a few names worth watching. We can do it better, cleaner, and smarter, but we cannot stop doing it.

5 Companies to Watch

These are not official Moonshot Minute Portfolio positions.

They’re simply watchlist ideas that align with the themes we’re following.

They’re interesting, potentially underpriced, and connected to the real infrastructure powering the next era of growth.

Neo Performance Materials (NEO.TO) – Rare-earth processing and magnet value chain outside China. A critical link between mined minerals and modern technology.

Profitable niche operator with improving margins and solid balance sheet; a credible, high-conviction materials play.

Lynas Rare Earths (LYC.AX) – The largest rare-earths producer outside China, supplying permanent-magnet materials essential to EVs and defense systems.

A proven producer with growth potential, but near-term profits are pressured by high capex and price volatility.

Energy Fuels (UUUU) – U.S. uranium producer expanding into rare-earth processing. Dual exposure to energy security and the magnet supply chain.

Strategically important but still transitioning; results depend on uranium and rare-earth pricing.

Novonix (NVX) – Synthetic graphite for EV anodes. Positioned at a bottleneck in the Western battery supply chain.

Innovative but early stage; speculative exposure to next-gen battery materials.

Powell Industries (POWL) – Power equipment and grid infrastructure manufacturer benefiting from data-center demand and electrification upgrades.

An established, profitable U.S. industrial leveraged to the electrification boom; more steady than speculative.

You don’t need to subscribe to Moonshot Minute Premium to benefit from understanding this story.

Just follow the themes we’re exploring here each week and position yourself accordingly.

But if you want to see the exact entries, exits, and positions driving the Moonshot Minute Portfolio’s performance, Premium Members get that full visibility.

Right now, the world remains deeply underinvested in the industries that will define the next decade, but that window is closing fast.

Capital is starting to flood in, and those who move early will own the advantage.

That’s good news for us.

Like it or not, the world still runs on what we pull from the ground.

Always has. Most likely always will.

Double D

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