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We Need 3 New Copper Mines a Year — We're Not Even Close | Marc Bishop Lafleche - Ecora Royalties

The Deep Dive Jul 8, 2026

Summary

Meeting forecast copper demand needs several tier-one mines a year for 15 years, and the guest doubts that pace is deliverable.

Ecora Royalties redeployed coal royalty cash flows into critical minerals, which reached just under 70% of revenue last year.

Critical minerals royalties face less competition than precious metals, letting Ecora grow through relationship-style deals in a fast-growing funding market.

Supply disruptions and tariff expectations pushed copper above $6 per pound, leaving physical markets balanced to undersupplied.

A coming Capstone Copper project could add about $35 million a year at spot, versus $60 million total portfolio contribution last year.

Key points on Ecora Royalties

  • The CEO says Ecora's coal-to-critical-minerals transformation is at its tail end: critical minerals generated just under 70% of total revenue in 2025, a first in the company's history, and NAV has gone from nearly 100% coal to over 90% critical minerals.
  • He expects the next growth wave from the Santo Domingo royalty (a Capstone Copper project targeting an FID decision later in 2026): at spot prices it could average about $35 million a year over its first 7-8 years, versus roughly $60 million from the entire portfolio in 2025.
  • He argues the critical-minerals royalty space is less competitive than precious metals, with many relationship-style deals, and that a growing need for refinancing capital lets Ecora keep growing without diluting portfolio quality.
  • He credits recent growth mainly to the base metals royalty book: a cobalt stream on Vale's Voisey's Bay, a copper royalty on Capstone's Mantos Blancos, and the Mimbula copper stream in Zambia.
  • He calls Ecora's uranium exposure tier-one, citing Cameco's Cigar Lake, Four Mile, and NexGen's Patterson Corridor East, while agreeing only a handful of meaningful uranium projects are heading toward production.

Robert Friedland's takeaways

  • Top takeaway The host cites Robert Friedland's view that the world needs roughly three new major copper mines a year, far above the recent pace of two or three per decade.

Steve Hyland's takeaways

  • Top takeaway The host frames the interview around copper undersupply, saying only two or three major copper mines have been built in the past decade and citing Robert Friedland's estimate that three a year are needed.
  • He presses the guest on how competitive copper and uranium royalty acquisition is and on which assets anchor Ecora's growth story.