The Chem Ledger
Mining Splits, Copper Bets, and Nuclear’s Small Scale
The Chem Ledger #52
The Chem Ledger
Join me in exploring mergers, acquisitions, and emerging trends in the chemistry industry, as we navigate the evolving relationship between science and business.
The Chem Ledger
TCL #51: BHP's Copper Quest, Reverion's Carbon Capture, and Pharma Updates from Novo & Bayer
Welcome to this week's newsletter. This edition features major moves in mining, where BHP's attempts to subsume Anglo American highlight the growing importance of copper, a metal that will underpin much of our renewable energy future. We're also looking at innovative carbon capture tech
The Chem Ledger
TCL #50: A Billion Here, A Billion There
This week saw a flurry of billion-dollar deals across energy, biotech, and pharma. The US Department of Energy is reviving the Three Mile Island nuclear plant with a $1 billion loan, while TotalEnergies is investing $6 billion in Europe's electric future. Johnson & Johnson and Roche made significant
The Chem Ledger
TCL #49: Power Plays and Carbon Bets
From Texas oil fields to Indian rice paddies, this week's deals reveal how capital chases the twin imperatives of the energy transition. Power demand surges while the world seeks to decarbonise where possible. Investors wager that profits and climate solutions might yet prove companions rather than adversaries. Meanwhile,
The Chem Ledger
TCL #48: Consolidation and Critical Minerals
Last week's transactions reveal the contours of American industrial policy in action. The federal government is deploying over $700 million in loans and incentives to establish domestic rare earth magnet production, addressing a critical supply chain vulnerability. Meanwhile, capital continues to consolidate. Oil producers are merging to achieve
The Chem Ledger
TCL #47: Silicon Valley and Nuclear Shadows
The collision between artificial intelligence and energy infrastructure is producing unexpected alliances. NextEra Energy and Google are reopening Iowa's Duane Arnold Energy Center, a nuclear plant shuttered for five years, to power Google's expanding AI operations. The US government has separately committed $80 billion with Westinghouse
The Chem Ledger
TCL #46: The Battle for Critical Resources
The logic of globalisation assumed that markets would efficiently allocate resources wherever they were cheapest. That era is ending. From lithium deposits in Texas to rare-earth sites in Minnesota, from quantum processors to AI-powered drug discovery, the new currency of industrial policy is not cost but control. The companies and
The Chem Ledger
TCL #45: Copper's Surge and Green Pivots
This week's updates in mining and energy highlight efficiency drives and strategic pivots. Codelco's investment in I-Pulse tech to cut energy use in copper production, BHP's potential Arizona mine restarts amid rising prices, GM's EV strategy reassessment with a $1.6B charge,
The Chem Ledger
TCL #44: From Algorithms to Test Tubes
Plus: Arkema's dry battery coatings, Lithium Americas' government backing, and Pfizer's tariff reprieve
The Chem Ledger
The Chem Ledger #43: Rare earth magnets in Estonia, obesity drug manufacturing in Texas
Plus: Pfizer's Metsera acquisition, silicon anodes in Washington, and Lanxess's polymer divestment
The Chem Ledger
TCL #42: The Funding Flow
From geothermal grids to plastic purification, venture capital finds new frontiers in industrial innovation
The Chem Ledger
TCL #41: AI-Driven Chemistry, Nuclear Operations, and Carbon Management Shape the Future
A comprehensive look at this week's major developments spanning artificial intelligence applications, nuclear technology advances, and breakthrough funding across materials, biotechnology, and clean energy sectors.