Taylor Melvin, President & CEO of Ivanhoe Electric | Rule Symposium 2026: Rick Rule interviews

Rule Investment Media Jun 4, 2026

Summary

Private land in Arizona removes the federal permitting nexus that left the Resolution deposit in 28 years of limbo.

A published feasibility study puts Santa Cruz at an after-tax NPV of $1.4 billion at $4.25 copper, plus $240 million per 25-cent price move.

Management puts Santa Cruz near $3 billion after-tax NPV at $6 copper against $1.24 billion of initial capital, under $20,000 per ton.

The first 15 years average 160 million pounds of copper a year at 92% recovery, with reported all-in costs near $2 a pound.

Growth options run beyond Santa Cruz: 2.7 million tons at Texaco, undrilled sulfide, and 50% stakes in Typhoon-explored joint ventures.

Top takeaway Melvin describes Friedland as Ivanhoe Electric's founder and executive chairman, and says global exploration is 'in Robert's DNA', with the company founded on being an active, technology-driven explorer for copper and the critical metals the US needs.
Melvin credits the company's technical edge to the Typhoon ground-based geophysical surveying platform developed by Friedland and his team in France, which is being applied through 50/50 partnerships rather than leased out like a rig.
Rule says he has invested and done business with Friedland for virtually his entire adult life and that Friedland has 'accomplished the impossible', in his phrasing, by making him look smart five times.
Melvin says he came to know Friedland through industry connections and his global reputation for company building, and jumped at the chance to lead Ivanhoe when the CEO role was offered in 2022.
Melvin notes Friedland is a long-time supporter and attendee of Rule's conference, and says he had earlier spent significant time with Jim Bob Moffett, whom he counts as an early mentor.

Top takeaway Rule discloses that he owns Ivanhoe Electric in his own personal account, and frames the conference rule that every public exhibitor must be held in sponsor accounts as a vetting test rather than an endorsement, adding 'no guarantee' that the stock rises.
Rule says the most telling detail in the conversation is the BHP joint venture, because BHP has its own Falcon geophysical technology but chose Typhoon in this venture, which he frames as a large user's endorsement.
Rule invokes a classroom rule of thumb to favour companies whose net present value is at least twice the upfront capital, a test Melvin says Ivanhoe's roughly $3 billion Santa Cruz NPV clears before satellite deposits and upgrades are counted.
Rule argues that building a modern underground copper mine on private land removes the state-federal nexus that he says has left the Resolution deposit in permitting limbo for 28 years.
Rule says his conference's money-back guarantee has stood for three decades with only about one-tenth of one percent of tuitions refunded, which he cites as evidence the content pays for attendees.

Top takeaway Rule cites a Goodman classroom rule of thumb for the audience, to favour companies whose net present value is at least twice the upfront capital contribution, a test Melvin says Ivanhoe meets before satellite deposits are counted.

Top takeaway Melvin argues Santa Cruz is worth far more than Ivanhoe's market cap, putting after-tax NPV at a little over $3 billion at the roughly $6.35 per pound copper price in the interview against a market cap he describes as a little north of $2 billion.
Melvin's growth thesis is 'growth through the drill bit': Santa Cruz reserves alone justify today's valuation, and 1.5 million tons of undrilled primary sulfide plus the nearby inferred Texaco resource extend the runway.
Melvin says Ivanhoe is converting its Typhoon surveying technology into new equity platforms rather than day rentals, with 50/50 ventures covering roughly 50,000 square kilometers of prospective ground in Saudi Arabia, ground in northern Chile, and joint work with BHP in the US Southwest.
Melvin frames the company as a US vehicle for securing domestic supply of copper and other critical metals, and points to private-land permitting in Arizona as the structural advantage over projects caught in state-federal review.
Melvin says the company is among the most active explorers in the US, with drilling under way in Arizona and Montana, active land acquisition, and three full Typhoon crews already running in Saudi Arabia despite Middle East conflict.