⛏️ The Next Oil: Why Critical Minerals Will Make or Break Superpowers — Mikhail Zeldovich | Ep. 100

In this episode, mining and commodities expert Mikhail Zeldovich joins host Constantin Kogan for a rare deep dive into the real engines of the global economy — critical minerals, geopolitics, and the future of resource investing.

From BCG to Rio Tinto to negotiating in Beijing and analyzing assets in remote mining camps, Mikhail brings nearly two decades of on-the-ground experience across metals, energy transition, and global supply chains.

He breaks down:

⚒️ How he “accidentally” entered mining at BCG — and why he never left

🌏 How China quietly built full dominance across mining, processing, equipment, and end products

📉 Why commodity stocks are supposed to be more volatile — and how smart investors use that

🔋 His view on lithium, nickel, cobalt, rare earths, antimony & tungsten

📈 The overlooked Australian copper play that quietly 3.5x’d in six months

🛰 Why satellite imagery + AI are changing exploration

🪙 How tokenization might transform mining finance

📍 What retail investors should understand before betting on resource plays

💡 Why Watch?

If you care about EVs, energy transition, metals, macro, or tokenized real-world assets — this is the deep, unfiltered look at the sector that powers everything.

Mikhail explains where real opportunity lies — and why the next decade of mining won’t look like the last.

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Follow Mikhail Zeldovich:

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikhail-zeldovich

🌐 Website: https://mineral-intel.com

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✉️ For any business inquiries, email me here: [email protected]

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Listen to the full podcast here!

🎧https://anchor.fm/constantinkogan

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Subscribe to my channel:

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeM6DzWBS9K-MHXMIEiCjSw

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Follow me on socials:

🌐 Website: https://ckogan.com

📲 Telegram: https://t.me/constantinkogan

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/constkogan/#

💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/constantin-kogan

✖️ X: https://x.com/constkogan

🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/constantinkogan

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0:00 – Intro

01:04 – Who is Mikhail Zeldovich? From law to BCG to mining

03:40 – Entering Rio Tinto & the early mining years

05:01 – Working across Moscow, Kazakhstan, Mongolia

06:47 – When geopolitics meets minerals

08:39 – China’s four-layer dominance: mining, processing, equipment, end-products

12:21 – Why the US can’t catch up yet

14:26 – Mining timelines vs political cycles

16:52 – Environmental approvals: West vs Indonesia/Australia

18:37 – Where to invest: funds, majors, juniors

21:45 – Volatility in commodity stocks explained

24:30 – The rare-earths landscape: MP, Lynas & new players

27:06 – Lithium, cobalt, nickel fundamentals

30:20 – How to pick winners in mining

33:41 – Under-the-radar: antimony & tungsten

35:48 – Gold & silver cycles

36:49 – How retail investors can realistically win

38:14 – Mining tech, AI & satellite-based discovery

40:48 – Tactical investing around geopolitical events

41:51 – Shipping, logistics & processing opportunities

43:44 – Tokenization & critical minerals finance

47:03 – Commodities trading 24/7?

48:11 – Future geopolitical winners: India, Brazil, Africa

52:31 – China vs West vs India: a three-way commodity world

54:09 – What could derail each strategy

56:15 – AI, automation & the next mining frontier

59:14 – Blitz round

01:03:40 – Final thoughts & where to find Mikhail