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Gianni Kovacevic — How I'm playing today's most mispriced opportunity

The author of My Electrician Drives a Porsche names direct lithium extraction as the market's most mispriced opportunity — SLB has already made it work commercially, and Lithium Bank is his top junior-mining conviction — then runs through copper (sustainable highs, Lumina Metals as "copper with a big silver kicker"), silver at ~50:1 to gold ($150–200 on the horizon), and gold as the de-dollarization safe haven.
2026-AUG-27 · Investing News Network (host Charlotte McLeod) · guest Gianni Kovacevic (investor, author) · 31:10 · ▶ Watch · transcript · actionable insights
One-line take: a speculator's lithium call anchored on a major, not a junior. Kovacevic argues the research edge is in SLB (Schlumberger), which operates a DLE facility in Clayton Valley, Nevada, partners with Rio Tinto, TechMet and Lithium Bank, and will both finish Lithium Bank's feasibility study (early next year) and run its Alberta plant — so the junior's execution risk is really SLB's. Lithium demand compounds at 20%+ (batteries 1.8→~5 TWh), making it a 2027–29 story he pitches as a 5–20 bagger. Copper's record is not a real high after dollar debasement; silver follows gold at ~50:1; gold wins on de-dollarization and a $1T/yr US interest bill. Caveat: he expects severe volatility from US debt ($40T+) and says to hold cash and gold if you can't weather it. Note his disclosed involvement in the Lumina Metals IPO.

1. Stocks & names mentioned

TickerNameResearchViewWhat he saidAt
LBNK.VLithium Bank Resources (TSXV)SA · STKPositive"My absolute top conviction right now" in junior mining. SLB is completing its feasibility study (out early next year) and will operate the facility with SLB personnel; it just bought surface infrastructure and 160 acres in Alberta, making it "the most advanced DLE project in the world," and closed a financing. Pitched as a 10–20 bagger: "the research is not with Lithium Bank, it's with Schlumberger."2:24
LithiumLithium (commodity / direct lithium extraction)Positive"The most mispriced opportunity right now is not just lithium, but direct lithium extraction." Demand compounds at 20%+ CAGR through 2035 (doubling in ~3.5–4 years; batteries 1.8→~5 TWh); sodium-ion maybe 10% of batteries, not a disruptor. After a "lithium winter" with no bid 18 months ago, a 2027–29 story with five- and 10-baggers in the best names.5:42
LMCULumina MetalsQT · SA · STK · FAPositiveInvolved in the IPO (discloses it). Ross Beaty's Polish copper company IPO'd at C$12.50 and trades ~10.50–11 (~C$1B cap) after raising $400M — "that's how dysfunctional this market is." World's largest silver deposit (1.5Boz): a 3–5Moz stream could be worth the whole market cap, plus a spin-out project. "Copper with a big silver kicker" that hasn't moved; visiting site Oct 22–23.10:15
CopperCopper (commodity)PositiveRecord prices "are sustainable": adjusted for the dollar's lost spending power they are not a true all-time high, "there's room to grow." A page-one story since his 2016 book (copper was $2/lb), though developer 10-baggers are gone.9:05
SilverSilver (commodity)PositiveFollows gold; ~50:1 ratio reasonable. The triple-digit spike was sold by "tourist" speculators into thin books; the next pulse is a more sustained, higher plateau. $100 silver "a question of when"; $150–200 "on the horizon" if gold goes to $8,000.17:06
GoldGold (commodity)Positive"The ultimate safe haven." Continued de-dollarization — Japan and Saudi Arabia held the Treasuries, a $1T interest bill, "all roads point to gold." Swiss-style 10%-gold portfolios rebalancing after gold tripled is ending while new Western buyers arrive; $8–10k plausible; 5–10% of a portfolio.21:47
SLBSLB (Schlumberger)QT · SA · STK · FANeutralThe research anchor, not pitched as a stock: operates a "massive" DLE facility in Clayton Valley, Nevada; acquired technologies to produce lithium commercially from brine (95% less water, far less energy, 10% of the hard-rock footprint, refined hydroxide or carbonate at site). Works with Rio Tinto, TechMet and Lithium Bank — "coming to page one soon."0:59
PAASPan American SilverQT · SA · STK · FANeutralNamed as a company that would benefit from $150–200 silver ("what would that do to a company like… Pan American Silver"). Reference, not a detailed pick.17:30
Silver PonySilver Pony (new IPO, British Columbia)Neutral"An interesting speculation": a two-week-old IPO drilling nine holes on very high-grade surface and historical silver in BC; he allocates "a little bit" of capital to explorers. Ticker not given.17:52
RIORio TintoQT · SA · STK · FANeutralOne of SLB's DLE partners — headlines of "Schlumberger succeeds with Rio Tinto" coming in 3–12 months. Validation reference.2:24
TechMetTechMet (private critical-minerals investor)NeutralSLB DLE partner; "the US government I think gave $1.4 billion." Validation reference.2:24
PHOS.CNFirst Phosphate (CSE)SANeutralPassing: "I was correct on my calls with First Phosphate." No current view given.4:59

Not tabled: Nvidia (named only as an over-discussed theme); platinum/palladium ("too niche," doesn't follow them); Devon Energy and George Mitchell (fracking history). Tickers for Lithium Bank (TSXV: LBNK) and First Phosphate (CSE: PHOS) are not stated in the video.

2. Talking points

0:59 Most mispriced: direct lithium extraction via SLB

2:24 SLB's partners: Rio Tinto, TechMet, Lithium Bank

3:29 Why DLE wins

4:17 Invest in the page-16 story headed to page one

5:42 Lithium cycle: 20%+ CAGR to 2035

7:15 From lithium winter to a 2027–29 story

9:05 Copper highs are sustainable

10:15 Lumina Metals: copper with a silver kicker

12:01 Debt-driven volatility is coming

15:33 Silver follows gold at ~50:1

19:53 Gold's driver in one word: de-dollarization

22:28 Western gold ownership will rise

25:44 Platinum and palladium: too niche

26:48 Hinges of history: energy's new greatest prize

3. In plain English

LBNK.V — Lithium Bank Resources Positive

Lithium Bank is a small Canadian company that owns lithium-rich salty underground water (brine) in Alberta. On its own, a tiny company trying a new extraction technology is a big gamble. What changes the picture for Kovacevic is who is doing the work: SLB, the world's biggest oilfield-services company, is writing the engineering study that tells investors whether the project makes money, and would run the plant with its own staff.

His bet is that once SLB publishes that study (expected early next year), the market will price the company as a real project rather than a science experiment. He calls it a potential 10–20 times return — a speculative, high-risk call on a micro-cap.

Lithium — direct lithium extraction Positive

Most lithium today comes from hard-rock mines or from huge evaporation ponds in South America that take months and lots of water. "Direct lithium extraction" (DLE) pulls lithium straight out of brine with a chemical process — like a filter — using far less water and land and producing battery-ready material on site.

Kovacevic says demand is growing more than 20% a year as battery production nearly triples, and prices crashed so hard 18 months ago that nobody wanted the sector. If the big companies prove DLE works at scale, he expects the lithium market to be strong in 2027–29.

LMCU — Lumina Metals Positive

Lumina is a new company from mining entrepreneur Ross Beaty with a giant copper deposit in Poland that also contains a huge amount of silver. It went public at C$12.50 a share and has slipped to about C$11. Kovacevic, who took part in the IPO, argues the silver alone could be sold as a "stream" (an upfront payment in exchange for future silver) for about what the whole company is worth today — so buyers get the copper for little. It's a long-dated development story, and he has a personal stake.

Silver Positive

Silver usually trails gold. He uses a rough rule that an ounce of gold buys about 50 ounces of silver, so if gold reaches $8,000, silver would be around $150–200. The spike above $100 earlier this year was driven by short-term traders who then sold; he expects the next rise to be steadier and to hold.

Gold Positive

His case is that the world is slowly moving away from holding US dollars and US government bonds, while the US now pays about $1 trillion a year in interest. Countries like Japan and Saudi Arabia that used to recycle their dollars into Treasuries may not keep buying. That leaves gold as the obvious store of value. He suggests keeping 5–10% of a portfolio in it and expects more ordinary Western savers to start doing so.

Copper Positive

Copper is at record prices, but because the dollar buys less than it used to, he says the price isn't really a record in "real" terms and can keep rising as electrification (EVs, solar, grids, batteries) grows. The cheap, early-stage copper stocks have mostly already risen, so he prefers ones that haven't moved.


For personal study — not investment advice. Source material © Investing News Network. The guest disclosed involvement in the Lumina Metals IPO.