While demand for critical minerals is on the rise, financing their exploration and production is more difficult than ever before. This presentation will address the practical impact of legal instruments such as the US Inflation Reduction Act, the EU’s tariffs on EV imports and hard law supply chain due diligence mandates. It will discuss governments’ increasing role in securing and allocating natural resource flows, and share some lessons learned from previous cases in which the presenters were involved. It will also make predictions as to trends we expect to see during the next five or so years and how mining companies can (and should) plan ahead to weather challenges and to make the most of geopolitical opportunities that will almost certainly present themselves.