– How Asia Thinks Differently
– What Actually Gets Funded
– Navigating Risks & DD
– Asia-specific Catalysts & Opportunities

Cutting through years of hype and headline risk, this panel takes a ground-level look at where the critical minerals race actually stands in 2026.

Is the Investment Case Still Intact for Battery Metals?
– Whether EV adoption curves are still the right framework for thinking about transition metal demand, or if AI energy infrastructure (data centres, grid storage) is now the more compelling demand driver
– How junior and mid-cap listed companies can leverage the current market to build new projects
– Whether the narrative around “friend-shoring” and domestic supply chains has translated into actual capital deployment or just political rhetoric

Geopolitics as a Market Force
– China’s dominance in processing and refining; is the West’s response realistic or is it decades too late?
– How Indonesia’s nickel export restrictions changed the way traders think about jurisdiction risk overnight. What about the upcoming focus on aluminium in Indonesia?
– The role of the US, Australian, and European critical minerals strategies in actually shifting where projects get funded

Where is the Capital Going?
– The shift from generalist equity investors toward strategic capital; offtake agreements, royalty financing, and government-backed funding vehicles
– Whether the major miners (BHP, Rio, Glencore) hoovering up M&A targets is good or bad for the broader investment ecosystem
– What a realistic path to production looks like for a listed junior today and whether public markets are the right vehicle for that journey at all