February 18, 2026

Lithium - The Most Critical Mineral?

58 minutes

Howard Klein of RK Equity discusses the Trump administration's Project Vault initiative and explains how a strategic lithium reserve could help boost the country's efforts to create secure supply chains.

“The goal of a strategic lithium reserve is to stabilize prices and allow the industry to develop,” he explained. “If prices fall too low, the reserve would step in as a buyer. If prices spike too high, it could sell into the market.”

This interview was filmed on February 13, 2026.

Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(00:30) What is Project Vault?

(09:02) Ranking critical minerals

(21:43) China's lithium influence

(25:40) What about midstream?

(30:35) Western skills shortage

(36:13) Strategic Lithium Reserve

(44:06) Energy storage outlook

(50:57) Phosphate's key role

(57:49) Outro

Sponsors

- Lithium Royalty Corp (TSX: LIRC) - diversified lithium royalty portfolio.

(Website: https://www.lithiumroyaltycorp.com/ | X: https://x.com/Lithium_Royalty)

- USCF Investments - commodity-focused ETFs (e.g., CPER copper, ZSB battery metals, USG gold, SDCI diversified commodities).

(Website: https://www.uscfinvestments.com/ | X: https://x.com/USCFInvestments)

Links

- Strategic Lithium Reserve (SLR) White Paper: https://blog.rkequity.com/2025/12/08/strategic-lithium-reserve/

- Read Matt's research blog: https://blog.rkequity.com/

- Sign up for the Lithium-Ion Bull newsletter/Matt's Blogs: https://rkequity.com/

Have a question? Drop us an email: [email protected]

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rockstockchannel

Podcast:

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lithium-ion-rocks/id1457969172

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0KiMIZOPaDg8ENfPJMSINq

X (Twitter):

Howard: https://x.com/LithiumIonBull

Rodney: https://x.com/RodneyHooper13

Matt: https://x.com/matt_fernley

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DISCLAIMER

NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH

Howard, Matt and Rodney are not financial advisors nor broker-dealers, this video is for information purposes only and should not be considered investment or financial advice. Please do your own independent research and read the disclaimer at the end of the video or on RK Equity's website https://www.rkequity.com

Intro and outro audio credit: Jamie Klein

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