I sit down with Lyle Trytten—nicknamed the “Nickel Nerd”—a chemical engineer and metallurgical consultant specializing in critical minerals and sustainability. With decades of experience from mining operations to refining and supply chains, Lyle breaks down the complex realities behind the recent surge of tariffs and trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada—and their potential consequences for critical mineral supply chains.

Lyle explains why tariffs meant to encourage domestic processing might backfire, raising costs and making U.S. manufacturing less competitive globally. He also details just how reliant the United States is on Canadian imports, especially for nickel and cobalt—critical minerals essential for the energy transition.

Plus, we discuss Canada's response, how trade tensions are influencing market sentiment, and what policymakers and industry need to understand to navigate the intricate balance of economic nationalism, geopolitical tensions, and global supply chain realities.

Follow Lyle: LinkedIn | Bluesky (search: "Nickel Nerd")

Episode Segments & Timestamps

00:00 – Intro & Context01:04 – Building mineral processing capacity isn’t simple01:53 – Deep-sea mining and supply chain geopolitics07:04 – Can tariffs bring processing back home?10:23 – Case study: Mountain Pass rare earth mine13:44 – Expertise shortfall in Western supply chains15:04 – Why even proven tech isn’t plug-and-play17:17 – U.S. mineral dependency on Canada21:29 – Canadian backlash to U.S. trade policy25:04 – Decision-making in the face of trade-offs30:24 – The limits of international regulation33:12 – What makes a good mining regulator?37:44 – Legacy sites and sustainability regulation40:05 – Lyle’s recommended resources & thinkers42:24 – Wrap-up & final reflections

Theme music Tamarack by Jesse Matas

Additional notes / corrections

Largest potash producers are Canada, Belarus, Russia.

Kazakhstan is the dominant producer of Uranium

Sustainable mining standards

ICMM - International Council on Mining and Metals (https://www.icmm.com)

TSM - Towards sustainable Mining (https://mining.ca/towards-sustainable-mining/) ‘

* Note that Norway, Finland, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Botswana, and the Philippines have all agreed to adopt both standards

📚 Lyle’s list of resources:

* Terry (Terence) McNulty’s influential papers on plant startups and processing failures (searchable as “McNulty Curves”): Link to Terry McNulty's work

* Bent Flyvbjerg (megaproject analysis): LinkedIn

* book with and Dan Gardner book: How Big Things Get Done

* On the Rocks podcast (Emily King): Nickel 101 with Lyle Trytten

* Michael Liebreich (global energy transition issues): Cleaning Up podcast | https://www.liebreich.com/

* Michael Barnard (global energy transition issues): writings for Clean Technica | LinkedIn

* Energy vs Climate podcast: energyvsclimate.com

* Jesse Jenkins (US energy transition and policy): featured on Shift Key podcast: Spotify or Apple or other platforms

Two that didn’t get a shoutout but are also endorsed:

* Markham Hislop Energi Media (sometimes controversial and blunt content on Canada’s energy transition): Website and YouTube, podcast on Spotify or Apple or others

* Jigar Shah (US energy transition and policy): Open Circuit podcast on Spotify, Apple or other platforms

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