BLACK SHEEP WHISTLEBLOWER
August 10 2026
Donald Trump just stood in front of the American mining industry and delivered a message that Canadian politicians — and particularly politicians in British Columbia — desperately need to hear.
“We’re putting our miners back to work, and we’re reclaiming America’s rightful place as the minerals superpower of the world.”
Then came the line that will probably end up on a few hard hats:
“We’re making mining great again.”
Trump announced more than US$180 million in grants aimed at strengthening American mining, mining education, trade programs and the critical-minerals workforce.
Whether you love Trump, hate Trump, or fall somewhere in between is almost beside the point.
Look at the policy. Watch Trump’s announcement here:
America is looking at the world and recognizing something extremely important:
MINERALS MATTER.
Copper matters.
Gold matters.
Lithium matters.
Graphite matters.
Rare earths matter.
Nickel matters.
Uranium matters.
Metallurgical coal matters.
And the geologists, engineers, drillers, prospectors, miners, metallurgists and tradespeople who actually find and develop these resources matter too.
Meanwhile, immediately north of the border sits Canada — one of the most mineral-rich countries on Earth.
And somehow we have managed to create a country where experienced Canadian geologists can struggle to find work while enormous portions of our geological potential remain undeveloped.
How the hell did we get here?
Canada Won the Geological Lottery
This is the part that drives me nuts as a geologist.
Canada possesses an extraordinary natural-resource endowment.
We have world-class geological terranes stretching from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia and north through the territories.
We have gold.
Copper.
Nickel.
Zinc.
Uranium.
Potash.
Iron ore.
Rare earth elements.
Lithium.
Graphite.
Cobalt.
Oil.
Natural gas.
Hydroelectric resources.
Forests.
Fresh water.
And an enormous landmass that remains comparatively underexplored.
Canada didn’t merely win the natural-resource lottery.
We won the geological lottery.
Yet sometimes we govern ourselves as though discovering a mineral deposit is something for which Canadians should apologize.
That attitude makes absolutely no sense.
Btw do you remember the “Keep Mining in Canada” public awareness and lobbying campaign—featuring the slogan that was launched in September 1993 by the Canadian Mineral Industry Federation and The Mining Association of Canada. It ran actively through the mid-to-late 1990s to promote the economic importance of the sector and advocate for regulatory reform. Where did that go from then to now where everyone wants Canada to be a green park ffs which is not realistic .. like at all not even a little bit actually.
Then There’s British Columbia
British Columbia should be one of the world’s great mining jurisdictions but it suffers deeply from environmental brainwashing and NIMBY.
The geology is phenomenal.
Anyone who understands the Canadian Cordillera knows what BC is sitting on.
Porphyry copper-gold systems.
Epithermal systems.
VMS deposits.
Precious-metal systems.
Critical-mineral potential.
Coal.
Industrial minerals.
And enormous areas where another generation of exploration will undoubtedly make discoveries.
Yet ask people throughout the exploration industry what one of their biggest frustrations is and you’ll repeatedly hear variations of the same complaints:
Permitting.
Regulatory uncertainty.
Timelines.
Access.
Capital uncertainty.
Constantly changing expectations.
Environmental assessment is necessary.
Water protection is necessary.
Indigenous consultation and rights are real considerations.
Reclamation is necessary.
Responsible mining is necessary.
But there is an enormous difference between regulating mining responsibly and creating a regulatory environment so uncertain and cumbersome that companies increasingly question whether developing a discovery is worth the fight.
BC needs to seriously ask itself which side of that line it is standing on.
Because geology doesn’t care about politics.
And investment capital can move.
Canadians Have Been Taught a False Choice
For decades Canadians have increasingly been presented with what I believe is a false choice:
You either support the environment or you support resource development.
Bullshit.
Canada can do both.
We can acknowledge the scientific evidence that human greenhouse-gas emissions are warming the climate while still having a serious debate about which policies are effective, affordable and proportionate.
Accepting climate science does not require believing that every climate policy proposed by every government is intelligent.
And caring about the environment does not require opposing mining.
In fact, there is a gigantic contradiction sitting right in the middle of the so-called green transition.
What exactly do people think electric vehicles, transmission lines, batteries, wind turbines, solar installations, data centres and modern electronics are made from?
Good intentions?
They require MINERALS.
Lots of them.
You Cannot Electrify the World Without Mining It
This is where the conversation becomes almost comical.
Governments tell Canadians we need electrification.
Okay.
Where does the copper come from?
We need massive electrical grids.
Where does the copper and aluminum come from?
We need batteries.
Where do the lithium, graphite, nickel and other materials come from?
We need semiconductors, defence technology and advanced electronics.
Where do the critical minerals come from?
Someone has to find them.
Someone has to drill them.
Someone has to permit them.
Someone has to finance them.
And ultimately someone has to mine them.
There is no clean-energy transition without mining.
The real environmental question shouldn’t be whether mining happens.
It should be:
Where will it happen, under whose environmental standards, and under whose strategic control?
I would rather see many of those minerals responsibly produced in Canada, under Canadian environmental and labour standards, than simply pretend we are saving the planet while importing them from jurisdictions with weaker standards.
Trump Apparently Understands the Critical-Minerals Problem
This is what makes Trump’s announcement particularly interesting.
This isn’t only about traditional mining jobs.
It is about critical minerals and national security.
Lithium.
Graphite.
Rare earth elements.
Silicon and other strategic materials.
These aren’t obscure geological commodities anymore.
They’re essential inputs for semiconductors, aerospace, communications, energy systems and military technology.
The country controlling the mine does not necessarily control the entire supply chain either.
Mining is only the beginning.
Processing.
Refining.
Smelting.
Separation.
Manufacturing.
All of these matter.
China’s dominance across important portions of critical-mineral processing has forced Western governments to confront something geologists and mining people have understood for years:
A country that cannot secure the raw materials underlying its economy eventually becomes dependent upon countries that can.
Trump appears determined to reduce that vulnerability.
Canada should be doing exactly the same thing.
America Is Investing in Mining Schools
One part of Trump’s announcement especially caught my attention.
He said roughly half of America’s current mining workforce could retire within the next three years.
According to the announcement, mining schools had apparently sought about $10 million annually.
Trump’s response?
The administration announced a $100-million program aimed at training the next generation of America’s mining and critical-minerals workforce.
Think about that for a minute.
America is worried about where its next generation of miners, geologists and mining professionals will come from.
So it is putting serious money behind rebuilding that workforce.
Now look north.
Canada has universities producing geology graduates.
We have experienced exploration geologists.
We have mining engineers.
We have prospectors.
We have an extraordinary geological database built by generations of government and industry geoscientists.
We have some of the best mining expertise anywhere in the world.
And yet Canadian geoscientists can still find themselves asking:
Where are the jobs?
Something is seriously wrong with that picture.
Canada Should Be Exporting Minerals — Not Geologists
I’ve spent much of my life around geology, exploration and resource industries.
There was a time when being a Canadian geologist meant something internationally.
Canadian exploration expertise travelled around the planet.
Our geologists helped discover deposits.
Our engineers built mines.
Our mining companies operated globally.
That expertise still exists.
But Canada should not be forcing its experienced geoscientists to continually look outside their own country for opportunities while enormous mineral potential sits beneath Canadian soil.
We should be exporting copper.
Gold.
Nickel.
Uranium.
Critical minerals.
Mining technology.
Geological expertise.
And Canadian environmental standards.
We shouldn’t have to export the geologists themselves simply because there isn’t enough work at home.
Environmentalism Cannot Mean Economic Self-Sabotage
Environmental protection matters.
I am a geologist. I understand perfectly well that mines disturb land.
Mining has impacts.
Poorly operated mines can cause serious environmental damage.
That is precisely why modern engineering, environmental assessment, water management, tailings standards, reclamation bonding and regulatory oversight exist.
But zero impact is not a serious standard for civilization.
Your house had an environmental impact.
Your cellphone had one.
Your car had one.
The road outside your house had one.
The electrical grid had one.
The computer or phone you’re reading this on contains materials that came out of the ground.
Modern civilization is built from geological resources.
The question is not whether humanity uses resources.
The question is whether we develop those resources intelligently and responsibly.
Canada seems to have spent far too much time pretending otherwise.
Critical Minerals Are the New Oil
The geopolitical race underway today isn’t simply about barrels of oil.
Increasingly, it’s about atoms on the periodic table.
Copper.
Lithium.
Nickel.
Graphite.
Rare earths.
Uranium.
Gallium.
Germanium.
And other strategically important materials.
These minerals underpin artificial intelligence infrastructure, electrical grids, advanced manufacturing, defence systems, aerospace and modern communications.
The countries that secure reliable supplies will possess an enormous strategic advantage.
The countries that don’t will become customers.
Trump clearly wants America to be the former.
What exactly does Canada want to be?
Because having minerals underground doesn’t automatically make you a mineral superpower.
You have to explore.
You have to discover.
You have to permit.
You have to finance.
You have to build.
You have to process.
And ultimately—
YOU HAVE TO MINE.
Canada Needs a Mining Reality Check
Imagine Canada actually deciding that natural resources are a strategic advantage rather than a national embarrassment.
Imagine governments setting clear permitting timelines.
Imagine maintaining tough environmental standards while eliminating unnecessary duplication and bureaucratic paralysis.
Imagine investing heavily in geological surveys and grassroots exploration.
Imagine rebuilding Canadian mineral-processing capacity.
Imagine funding mining and geological education.
Imagine creating incentives for young Canadians to become geologists, engineers, miners and tradespeople.
Imagine governments, Indigenous nations and industry building agreements that create long-term ownership, employment and revenue opportunities.
Imagine Canada deciding it intends to become one of the world’s dominant suppliers of responsibly produced critical minerals.
We already possess the hardest ingredient to manufacture:
THE GEOLOGY.
The Black Sheep Bottom Line
You don’t have to become a Trump supporter to recognize what America is doing here.
Trump is looking at mineral security and saying:
Let’s build.
Let’s train people.
Let’s mine.
Let’s reduce foreign dependence.
Meanwhile Canada possesses some of the greatest mineral potential on Earth and too often responds with another regulatory process, another study, another delay and another political argument.
That isn’t environmental leadership.
If carried too far, it’s economic self-sabotage.
Climate change is real.
Environmental stewardship matters.
Responsible regulation matters.
But so do jobs.
Economic sovereignty matters.
Energy security matters.
National security matters.
And critical-mineral security absolutely matters.
Canada doesn’t have to choose between protecting its environment and developing its resources.
A technologically advanced country ought to be capable of doing both.
And British Columbia, with its extraordinary geological endowment, should be leading that Canadian mining renaissance — not becoming the cautionary tale companies cite when deciding where not to invest.
Trump says he wants to make mining great again in America.
Maybe Canadian politicians should stop laughing at the slogan long enough to understand the strategy behind it.
Because while we argue about whether a mine should ever be built—
someone else is going to mine the minerals.
Someone else is going to process them.
Someone else is going to manufacture with them.
Someone else is going to employ the geologists.
And someone else is going to collect the economic benefits.
Canada is sitting on a geological fortune.
It’s time we started acting like we know it.
WATCH: Trump’s Mining Announcement
Video of President Trump’s August 7, 2026 mining announcement:
BLACK SHEEP WHISTLEBLOWER
Question everything. Follow the evidence. And never be afraid to dig beneath the surface.
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