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As I write this on Dec. 16, I look back and see that all the way through 2022 we have been talking about facing tougher conditions such as supply-chain disruptions, inflation, higher interest rates, and the likelihood of a recession.

Mining and resource stocks have over the decades been a very important sector of the Canadian stock market. The inherent volatility, scandals, low overall sector rates of return, and the rise of the real estate sector and related industries as the primary sector of importance in Canada have meant that resource stocks declined in prominence in the last 15 years. However, a strong case can now be made in their favour.

Claudia Tornquist is one of a tiny handful of female CEOs in Canada’s mining industry.  According to the latest breakdown, only 19% of executives at publicly traded mining companies in this country are women. (2022 Diversity Disclosure Practices: Diversity and Leadership at Canadian Public Companies: Osler) A fraction of those are chief executives.

In Canada, the mining and oil and gas industries have gained reputations they do not deserve. Ask the average Canadian what they think of either sector, and the answer is often one of derision and hopes for banishment.

Modern humans have, through their daily activities, been liberating carbon at a furious pace. By “carbon”, I specifically mean carbon dioxide, or CO2, which is a naturally occurring gas molecule made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms.

Many would agree that the energy world has changed dramatically over the past couple of years. In early 2020, energy commodity prices, particularly oil, plummeted as response to COVID-19 devastated demand and producers could not sell their oil.

I would argue that we are already in recession in 2022, as defined by world negative output growth, measured in actual goods and services produced in 2022 vs 2021. Or measured in GDP in U.S. “constant” dollars, in other words, adjusted for inflation. The main reason for that is that: