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The Biggest Mining Boom Has Barely Started | Craig Parry - Inventa Capital

The Deep Dive Jul 14, 2026

Summary

Craig Parry argues the junior mining bull market is just starting, comparing today's setup to 2006-2007 before that cycle went parabolic.

Roughly $1.5 billion was raised across Parry's companies in six months, showing access to capital has reopened for junior miners.

Parry sees copper reaching $30 per pound within five to ten years as demand growth outruns a near-total lack of new supply.

Vizsla Copper enters its most important stretch: four rigs testing a porphyry system (a large-scale copper deposit), high-grade Woodjam zones, and Alaska's Palmer project.

Data centers, electrification and AI add copper demand while major-mine expansions need about $20 billion, so supply cannot respond quickly.

Key points on Skeena Resources

  • Craig Parry says his group did a billion-dollar financing at Skeena a few months before the July 2026 interview, part of roughly $1.5 billion raised across the portfolio in six months.
  • He cites Skeena among the team's successes — 'uranium, gold with Skeena, silver with Vizsla Silver.'

Key points on Vizsla Silver

  • Parry says Vizsla Silver raised $300 million US and, after what he calls an incredibly tough year, is getting back on track toward building its mine as of July 2026.
  • He argues it will become one of the great silver-producing mines and districts.

Mark Carney's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Parry says Mark Carney announced a $500 million grant to the Red Chris mine for its underground Block K in the week before the July 2026 interview, calling it clear evidence that Canada's government is now funding copper mine development.

Steve Hyland's takeaways

  • Top takeaway The host points out that even at one of the top junior mining conferences, with hundreds of investors on site and a couple thousand online, participation is small relative to the opportunity he sees — evidence the cycle is still in its early days.
  • He presses Parry on Vizsla Copper's next three months, the mid-tier copper producer vision, how few sizeable copper mines have been built in the last decade, and where deal flow for new projects would come from.

Craig Parry's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Argues the sector is at the earliest stage of what he calls the biggest mining boom ever, comparing mid-2026 to 2006-2007 before the 2008-2009 parabolic phase, with US institutional and hedge-fund money still to return and drive the real gains.
  • Predicts copper reaches $30 per pound within 5-10 years: the market needs about 8-9 million tonnes of incremental supply by 2035 — roughly 70-80 new 100,000-tonne-per-year mines at about $3 billion and up to 20 years each — and he sees no supply response coming.
  • Says his group raised about $1.5 billion across its companies in the six months to July 2026 — including $1 billion at Skeena, $300 million US at Vizsla Silver and $50 million at Vizsla Copper — while noting that half of global equity trading is passive and US institutional buyers have not yet arrived.
  • Is skeptical that any supply response is coming: he estimates he has reviewed more than 5,000 copper projects over the past 10 years and high-grade, buildable ones are extremely rare, while expansions at the big mines would cost on the order of $20 billion each.
  • Describes Vizsla Copper as his day job and passion project with $8 million of his own money invested, and expects AI and data-center demand — plus direct project investment interest from Silicon Valley figures — to tighten the copper market further.

Elon Musk's takeaways

  • Top takeaway According to Parry, Musk and Chamath Palihapitiya have been discussing copper and concrete as the constraining inputs for the data-center buildout, and people from Musk's team have taken calls with Parry about investing directly in US projects.

Mr. Simon Cmrlec's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Parry says Simon Cmrlec joined from 'Osanko,' described as the world's largest independent mining EPCM contractor, and has built 43 mines — making him arguably the most prolific mine builder in the world.
  • His hiring gives the group the capability to take projects from generation through exploration, studies, development, and production; the transcript also credits his team with delivering recent large copper mine builds, including 'Manta Verde' in Chile.