Copper Actually IS the 'New Silver'
Contributed Opinion

1. Green Bridge Metals Corp. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$3,000 and US$6,000. 
2. As of the date of this article, officers, contractors, shareholders, and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Fitzroy Minerals Inc. and Green Bridge Metals Corp. 
3. [PERSON_NAME]: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own securities of: Freeport-McMoRan, Fitzroy Minerals Inc. and Green Bridge Metals Corp. My company has a financial relationship with: None. My company has purchased stocks mentioned in this article for my management clients: None. I determined which companies would be included in this article based on my research and understanding of the sector.
4. Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports, Street Smart, or their officers. The author is wholly responsible for the accuracy of the statements. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Any disclosures from the author can be found  below. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy. 
5.  This article does not constitute investment advice and is not a solicitation for any investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her personal financial adviser and perform their own comprehensive investment research. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company. 

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Michael Ballanger Disclosures

This letter makes no guarantee or warranty on the accuracy or completeness of the data provided. Nothing contained herein is intended or shall be deemed to be investment advice, implied or otherwise. This letter represents my views and replicates trades that I am making but nothing more than that. Always consult your registered advisor to assist you with your investments. I accept no liability for any loss arising from the use of the data contained on this letter. Options and junior mining stocks contain a high level of risk that may result in the loss of part or all invested capital and therefore are suitable for experienced and professional investors and traders only. One should be familiar with the risks involved in junior mining and options trading and we recommend consulting a financial adviser if you feel you do not understand the risks involved.

 As a newsletter writer, I ask subscribers for a paltry sum every year to allow me to send out anecdotes otherwise known as "stories" about a variety of topics, including my dog, Fido, who chases any and all delivery drivers up the road with great gusto and total resolve. Last night, a young chap arrived in a UPS truck, intent beyond all get-go to deliver the package (an envelope) to my front door, only to realize to his astonishment that all that was between him and a 110-pound snarling Rottweiler was a tiny layer of mosquito netting with zero chance of protecting him from the alligator jaws of a fun-loving attack dog. The problem with these types of canines is that they have been bred over the centuries as "killers" (usually by people who are afraid of being killed), but as any dog-lover knows, all dogs are on this planet for two simple purposes — to love their masters and to chase UPS drivers up the road. Fido knows naught of his pedigree; all Fido has known from his early days as a "puppy" is that if he wants to sleep in the master bed, then he WILL sleep in the master bed and while that has in the past created problems (sometimes severe) with the person with whom I share the bed, needless to say we created another room in the house that solved the problem. Because Fido is no longer allowed in our new room, the issue of "bed control" is now a thing of the past. The new issue is him chewing my pillow into down feathers whilst dreaming of the UPS driver…

However, I, as always, digress…

I also tell subscribers of my heartfelt feelings about markets. I write about the markets I remember (vaguely) from the 1970's when I was toiling at that private Jesuit institution called Saint Louis University and buying odd-lots of companies like Honeywell and National Cash Register (and losing my shirt). I took a very brief respite from markets after I graduated by attempting to make the NHL by competing against giant human beings with IQ's the size of a Mickey Mouse fingernail in what was the "most fun" I ever had in my entire life. Do you all remember the scene in the greatest hockey movie of all time, "SlapShot", where Paul Newman is in his apartment trying to call his wife?

That apartment belonged to Bruce "Gabby" Boudreau, who was the most entertaining opponent against whom I was ever forced to compete. I came back from the team that should have won the Memorial Cup in 1971 – the OHA Junior "A" Saint Catharines Blackhawks — in order to remain eligible for a U.S. college scholarship – and played for the Mississauga-based Dixie Beehives while toiling for a team that was knocked out largely because our most talented player — Larry Patey (who went on to play over 10 years in the NHL) – decided to quit pre-playoffs in order to get into Boston University). I knew all the characters from the "old days".

Derek Sanderson borrowed my 1969 Chevy Impala (the "ghetto cruiser") that I owned, thanks to a girlfriend's brother, after which I tinted all the windows and put "dingle balls" dangling from just above the windows and windshield. Gabby Boudreau was always destined to be a coach or a salesman or a mining promoter or all of the above in the same breath. I would be crouched at the face-off circle, concentrating on beating the little imp, and everyone on the ice, including the referees, would be doubled over laughing at some rant upon which Gabby had decided to embark. If there is one truism about Bruce, it is this: Had he had even three more inches of height, he would have had a long NHL playing career. He was a VERY good player and owns a brilliant mind for the wonderful game of hockey.

However, I digress…

The Shoppers Drug Mart driver is a very polite and very Indian young man who sounds identical to Russell Peters talking about his upbringing in Bramalea, a suburban creation of the early-1960's, located in what used to be a totally English-Scottish-Irish enclave known as "Brampton". The youngster attempting to deliver my medications (note: medications is "plural") decided to plod up the steps and ignore with total and absolute repugnance the sign reading "BEWARE OF DOG" and lay down the package. Within seconds, Fido came lunging through the mosquito screen, snarling at the turban-headed Sikh who was headed toward Fido's favorite "marking spot". 

The sight of Fido chasing that poor driver up the street was a thing of beauty. You see, I trained Fido from a very early age to respect humans, but in his early years, poor Fido had only my exceedingly Caucasian family from which to draw samples. To this day, I don't know whether it was his turban or his skin color, but it soon became apparent that "If you not look like masters' kin, Fido not like you." After which, canine justice was soon to arrive. Alas, in the interest of full, true, and plain disclosure, Fido did not injure the young man; he merely frightened him to within an inch of his life. From that moment onward, the Shoppers driver also made a very wise decision to leave the blister pack on the front step a few feet from the car door instead of running the risk of another encounter with the Raving Rottweiler.

Copper

In case you had not noticed, I LOVE copper. I have, in the past six years, engaged some of the top metals and mining analysts on the planet in debates over "copper versus gold" and "copper versus silver" and even "copper versus uranium, albeit more recently.

In each of these debates, I came away with the distinct conviction that there is no bullish case that ever holds a candle against copper when it comes to the certainty of outcome.

Gold comes in a close second, but as powerfully bullish as gold is in today's debt-sodden world, a U.S. dollar rally would certainly put a crimp in the current golden narrative that remains fully hinged around central bank buying and dollar debasement theory.

Copper, like oil, is used in literally every industry on the planet, and with the widespread movement toward electrification in every major industrial economy, there is simply not enough copper to meet these massive increases in demand.

A case in point is the sharp downdraft late last week in my favorite mining company in the world, global multinational giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX:NYSE), which got smoked for over 15% from its record high of the prior week when it reported earnings but also included forward guidance on its efforts to restart block caving operations at the Grasberg Mine site where a "mud-rush" forced a complete closure last September as well as several fatalities.

Analysts had been expecting an 85% recovery in production by Q2 2026, but based on the report last

week, the company expects only a 65% recovery "during the last half of 2026" and cut copper production estimates from 3.4 billion pounds to 3.1 billion while lowering gold estimates from 800,000 ounces to 650,000 ounces. Goldman Sachs has already cut global mine forecasts after Grasberg's collapse, estimating a supply loss of 525,000 tonnes through 2026.

 This underscores the seriousness of the looming copper shortfalls that are rapidly appearing everywhere as some of the world's largest historical sources of copper supply are either in decline or about to be shut down.

Major Drivers of Shutdowns Since 2000:

• Depletion and Aging Infrastructure: Many of the world's largest copper mines are over 100 years old. Since 2000, mines like Mount Isa in Australia (closed in 2025 after 60+ years) have shut down as their ore bodies were finally exhausted.
• Environmental & Social Opposition: In recent years, social unrest and Supreme Court rulings have forced major shutdowns. The most notable is the Cobre Panama mine, which was ordered to shut down in late 2023, removing roughly 1.5% of global copper supply.
• Geotechnical Failures & Accidents: Several major mines have been forced into "emergency" shutdowns or long-term suspensions recently. This includes the Grasberg mine mud rush and a tunnel collapse at El Teniente in Chile.
• Economic Cycles: During the 2008–2009 Global Financial Crisis and the 2015–2016 commodity price slump, approximately 2.2% and 4.2% of global copper supply, respectively, were taken offline through price-related closures. 

To replace these losses in supply, governments around the world are going to be forced to eliminate roadblocks that delay new exploration and development which will favour the junior copper group far more than their senior counterparts.

This is one of the main reasons why juniors like Fitzroy Minerals Inc. (FTZ:TSX.V; FTZFF:OTCQB) and Green Bridge Metals Corp. (GRBM:CSE; GBMCF:OTC; J48:FWB) are held in the GGMA portfolios with such overweight positioning.

The senior miners are too busy with their existing operations to focus on greenfield exploration programs, which is why most, if not all, of the major new copper discoveries are made by the juniors.

The largest new copper discovery was made in 2008 of the Kamoa deposit in 2008 by none other than Robert Friedland's Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN:TSX; IVPAF:OTCQX), with an even higher grade sister deposit (Kakula) being discovered in 2016. Even with these new discoveries, there is a need for hundreds more to meet copper requirements that will only accelerate as we approach the end of the decade.

As was the case in Africa in the DNC, there was a civil war going on when the Ivanhoe exploration team was in the field attempting to validate the geological model that had been advanced by Dr. David Broughton (head of exploration for Ivanhoe). Most of the newer, large-scale discoveries are being made in remote parts of the world or in regions that have been deemed "too dangerous" due to the hostility of the locals or the uncertainty of ownership.

From a pricing perspective, copper has been in a 25-year bull market with setbacks during the GFC in 2007-2008, the metals' bear market (2011-2015), the COVID Crash (2020), and the period of tight monetary policy (2022-2023), each time recovering to all-time high prices, with the most recent being in January of this year.

Even after the start of hostilities in the Middle East, copper had only a very brief drop below the $6.00/lb. level, which it broke for the first time in January, plunging to $5.20 on March 20, only to embark upon a month-long rally, taking it up to and through $6.00 once again.

With $90 oil threatening to derail global growth, one might have expected copper to be lucky to have remained above $5/lb. rather than probing its upper regions from eight weeks ago. And yet, here it is sailing along as high as $6.12/lb. before sliding below to end the week @ $6.0285 by Friday's close.

The only circumstance that could derail copper is a complete breakdown in global economic growth brought on by the oil shock, but any such event would likely be greeted with stimulative measures by governments the world over, led by the U.S. Fed, resulting in a weak dollar and broadly rising metal prices. It was obvious that the decline in February-March was triggered by fears of global slowdown, but copper shrugged it off and resumed its march northward late last month.

As for the mighty Freeport-McMoRan Inc., I added a second tranche last Thursday into the crash at $62.25 with the first tranche purchase at $52.30 back on March 10^th. Prior to their guidance last week, I was calling for $80 by summer and $100 by year-end, but with their most productive mine (Grasberg) still not ship-shape, I will be pleased to see $75 by year-end. If and when they get Grasberg back to operational capacity, I can always reassess my target prices. If there is one thing I know about FCX:US, you can never count them out because they are one beast of a company, and they will turn it around in due course.

Trading volumes on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) in early 2026 have surged significantly compared to the prior twelve months, reflecting what TMX Group describes as a "historic year" for junior mining and high-tech innovation. 

The most recent consolidated data shows a massive year-over-year increase in trading activity: 

Volume and Value Comparisons

• March 2026 vs. March 2025:

• Volume: Traded 5.28 billion shares, an 81% increase over the 2.91 billion shares traded in March 2025.
• Value: The total value traded reached $5.4 billion, nearly four times (271%) higher than the $1.45 billion recorded in March 2025.
• Transactions: Total trades grew to 2.51 million, more than tripling the 770,864 transactions from the same period last year.

• April 2026 Trends:

• While full April reports typically release at month-end, year-to-date (YTD) statistics through March 31 show that average daily volume for 2026 is 284.4 million shares, a 96.7% increase compared to the 144.6 million average for the first quarter of 2025. 

Key Drivers of Growth

• Sector Performance: Mining remains the dominant sector, following a strong performance in March with continued gains in April.
• Market Confidence: TMX Group reports increased global investor demand for resource security and critical technologies as primary drivers of this growth.
• Financing Activity: Equity financings on the TSXV also spiked, with March 2026 raising 481% more capital than March 2025 across 161 separate financings.

These are important facts to remember when you are speaking to a CEO or an investor relations representative, and they are telling you that the reason their stock has dropped is because of the downturn in market conditions. Conditions are spectacular for the juniors right now. Gold and silver may be well off their late-January peaks, but even at $4,700 (Au) and $75.00 (Si), those prices make new discoveries worth billions. Companies with proven, economically viable projects should be out there, not telling a "new story" to current investors; they should be busy telling the "old story" to new investors. The best in the business ever was Bob Friedland, who was a perpetual promoter, telling the Diamondfields "story" to whoever had eyes to see and ears to listen. By the time Mother Nature and Lady Luck had blessed him at Voisey's Bay, he pitched his company to Inco Ltd. for US$4.3 billion, making him and a legion of shareholder-investors insanely rich in the process.

There was a scene in the 1992 film "Glengarry Glen Ross" where the character played by Alec Baldwin is lecturing a room full of struggling real estate salesmen by teaching them the "ABC" of sales, which is to "Always Be Closing". 

In the junior resource industry, the secret to maintaining a rising share price is "Always Be Calling" as in "new investors". Marketing a great story is critical to the health of all junior miners and if you are an explorer, it changes to "ABD", as in "Always Be Drilling", because as an old Bay Street promoter once told me while sipping draft beer and puffing on a non-filter Camel cigarette, "When the drills stop turning, the deal starts burning…"

Amen to that…