The M&E Dispatch // 129

Hello Everyone,

One of the oddities in this business is that some of the smartest people in the room sound the least interesting once their words hit the page. Engineers, geologists, technologists, doctors — you can hold a room at a conference bar while you unpack a new paper or a clever way around a technical problem. Then the “official” communication goes out and it turns into dense tables, acronyms and caveats that only the technical team will ever truly read.​

Necessary? Yes. But in a Canada that is now openly talking about “nation‑building projects,” “Canada Strong” and using Budget 2025 to crowd in hundreds of billions of investment into ports, mines, trade corridors and critical infrastructure, it is not enough to be technically correct and instantly forgettable.​

The language around you is supply chains, resilience, critical minerals, clean power, and corridors that serve allies as well as Canadians. If your story still reads like a geology lecture, you are playing a different game than the one the capital and policy are now wired for.​

The Starbucks investment committee

There’s a Starbucks near me where a retired civil engineer shows up once a week with a PDAC conference bag from a mining firm I recognized. He’s part of a small group of retired engineers who meet there regularly with a list of juniors and energy names they follow.

I have no idea what they say about any specific company, that part doesn’t matter. What matters is that they exist: a little, informal investment committee in a coffee shop, quietly trading impressions about which names feel worth watching and which ones blur together.

That’s the real world your story lives in. Not just boardrooms and budget documents, but Starbucks tables, kitchen counters, group chats and quiet emails between people who have time, money and opinions. The question isn’t “Did we file the release?” It’s: when groups like that compare notes, does your name come up at all — and if it does, is there a clear, simple story attached to it?

Core results vs. Carney‑era stories

Your technical results are the foundation, but only a small slice of your audience lives there day to day. Everyone else is trying to understand something different:​

• How does this project fit into Canada’s push for secure supply chains and resilience?

• What does it mean for local jobs, skills and long‑term regional growth?

• How does it connect to the long list of “nation‑building” projects Carney’s government is now championing^* — ports, corridors, transmission lines, critical mineral hubs?​

In other words, the game has shifted from “Do you have good rocks?” to “Do you sound like part of the future Canada is actively paying for?”.

^* If you recall in the last Dispatch ( # 127) I coined this new way of sourcing projects from the Carney Government CarnDar, like “radar” but for… you get it 😉 

Why you need something you can measure

Most company websites are archives. You post, you hope the right people stumble across it, and you hope someone on the other end forwards it to the right inbox. That’s difficult to measure and even harder to improve in a deliberate way.​

Email is different. Across sectors, it remains one of the highest‑ROI marketing channels, with multiple studies continuing to show average returns in the range of tens of dollars in value for every dollar invested when campaigns are well executed. When you run a proper briefing or newsletter, you can see:​

• Who opened and clicked, broken down by audience types.

• Which themes and messages actually move people to act or share.

• How adjusting your story month by month changes engagement.

Segmented and targeted email routinely outperforms generic blasts, because you’re talking to people in language that matches why they care. That is exactly the kind of signal you want when you’re deciding where to spend the next dollar of time and budget.​

A small 2025 line item, a 2026 advantage

December is the month when a lot of teams mentally clock out. Conferences are over, inboxes get quieter, and “we’ll look at that in the new year” becomes the default setting. That is exactly when a small, focused 2025 marketing allocation can buy you something big for 2026.​

If you’ve read this far, you can probably sense an offer coming.

My son is on the road to Cornwall this weekend for a three‑day hockey trip, which means I have a rare block of quiet time to build a handful of these.

This is what I do: I create newsletters and briefings and run them for companies as well as my own publications. I move fast, I do this many times a week, and for about five of you, here’s what I want to build.

The CarnDar Briefing Build –
Lame name, beautiful results

For a one‑time $899, you allocate a small piece of your 2025 marketing budget and get a Carney‑era ready briefing channel ready to go the moment you’re back from the holidays:

• Branded attention and visibility channel built for you
  Hosted landing page, sending domain configured, slick automations turned on, and a clean template set up for regular investor, media and stakeholder updates.​

• A simple Carney‑era narrative map
  A short working session to pull out your nation‑building, secure‑supply, resilience and partnership angles, distilled into a one‑pager your team can reuse in decks and releases.​

• Your first briefing issue drafted
  One clear, plain‑language issue that explains “why we matter in this new era,” not just “what we drilled last quarter,” so you return in January one click away from being in inboxes.

• A basic measurement and testing plan
  Straightforward guidance on segments, simple tests to run, and what numbers to watch so you can see what actually lands instead of guessing from conference chatter.​

Effort on your side: 15–30 minutes on a kickoff call (or email) and a handful of short emails for clarity from time to time. Easy.​

Risk‑free performance guarantee

This only matters if it turns into a real audience for you, so the CarnDar Briefing Build comes with a straightforward guarantee:

The only ask on your side is that you send at least a reasonable cadence of briefings (for example, twice monthly) so there’s enough activity and data to work with.​

You absolutely have competitors, and they are fighting for the same investment dollars you are. You can wait until the new year and add “newsletter” to an already crowded to‑do list, or you can come back in January and find the heavy lifting already done.​

If you want one of the December CarnDar slots, hit reply with “2026 briefings” and I’ll send you the next steps.

This is for you if…

• You have a real project or operating business in mining, energy, or an adjacent supply chain that needs to be understood in the context of Canada’s “nation‑building” push (secure supply, resilience, clean growth, regional impact).​

• You already produce updates (news releases, decks, presentations, site content) but don’t have a consistent, owned channel that pulls those into a clear narrative people can actually follow over time.​

• You’re prepared to send at least a simple briefing on a regular cadence (twice monthly or better) so there’s enough activity and data to learn what resonates and what doesn’t.​

• You have, or can get, a clean list of people who have a legitimate reason to hear from you (investors, stakeholders, partners, interested contacts) and are willing to respect consent and compliance rules when growing that list.​

• You’re comfortable making a modest 2025 budget allocation (the $899 build and some internal time) in order to be visibly sharper and more measurable in 2026.

This isn’t for you if…

• You are looking for a pure “spray and pray” cold‑email engine or anything that relies on ignoring CASL / email consent rules; this is built for long‑term, permission‑based communication.​

• You don’t have anyone who can review content for accuracy, risk and disclosure, or you’re not willing to put basic governance around what goes out under your name.​

• You’re unwilling to send regular briefings or share minimal performance data back (opens, clicks, list growth), which means there would be no way to improve messaging over time.​

• You see this strictly as a one‑off announcement channel, rather than part of an ongoing effort to build and keep the attention of the people whose decisions actually affect your project.​

Note: → If cash flow is currently a problem, but still want this, hit reply and we’ll figure something out.

// The Dirt

🔥 Top 3 Headlines to Watch

🛠 Exploration & Development Highlights

💰 Financings & Market Moves

🧬 Corporate & Policy

// The Hustle

Like I mentioned, the boys are off to Cornwall this weekend for a tournament so it’s just Karen and I for the weekend. With it being as cold as it is (disgustingly cold and people keep saying it get’s worse) it’s looking like we’ll be hanging out inside.

Fireplace ✅ 
Eggnog ✅ 
Someone else to walk the dog? ❌ 

Right, kids are gone to Cornwall… so much for staying in all weekend.

Enjoy the weekend all, I hope it’s warmer where you are than it is here.
- Lee