Critical Minerals: The Midstream Is Where Margin Lives

Investors instinctively reach for the asset. The durable returns in critical minerals sit downstream, in the layer the West has been most willing to abandon.

Where margin actually accrues

Separation, conversion, refining, and the production of intermediate goods are where the structural moats sit. The midstream takes time to permit, time to build, and time to commission. That is the moat.

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