America’s Shipbuilding Crisis, Amazon Bets Big On Nuclear SMRs, Millennial Mining Heirs And the Mining Industry’s Next Frontier Deep Under the SEA

Fellow Industrialists and Agents of Progress,

As the leaves turn and the year winds down, America finds itself once again in the thrilling twilight of an election season. Against the backdrop of spooky October nights, it’s not just Halloween that has people feeling a chill—the stakes are high, and the choices ahead are monumental. As we walk through a landscape of both tricks and treats, there's an undeniable sense that the decisions made in these coming weeks will shape our industries and our futures.

So, as you sip on cider, prepare for festive gatherings, and perhaps peek at the latest polls, we invite you to step into the stories shaping the world —America's urgent shipbuilding crisis as it races to keep pace with China, and Amazon's ambitious bet on small nuclear reactors to power its growing network of data centers. From the world’s largest plumbing repair to mining ventures plunging deep under the sea, this edition covers the bold moves shaping our industrial future. Plus, we’ll introduce you to ZachXBT, the masked vigilante tracking down billions in crypto scams, and millennial mining heirs staking their legacy on Argentine copper.

On the personal front, we took part in our civic duty and had a great time this halloween with our little ones. Without further ado, let’s dive in. Thank you for being part of The Industrialist.

The Industrialist

— Rayyan

WHAT CAUGHT OUR EYE:

— America’s Shipbuilding Crisis: Can the U.S. Build Enough Ships to Keep up with China? 🔥🔥🔥

— Amazon Bets Big On Small Nuclear Reactors To Power Its Data Centers

— How A Small Cap Juggernaut Is Retooling The Power Grid And Helping Navy Ships Avoid Mines 🔥

— Oil Was Written Off. Now It’s the Most Productive US Industry

— The World’s Largest Plumbing Repair

— The Mining Industry’s Next Frontier Is Deep, Deep Under the Sea 🔥🔥🔥

— Meet ZachXBT, the Masked Vigilante Tracking Down Billions in Crypto Scams and Thefts

— Millennial Mining Heirs Bet the Family Business on Argentine Copper

— Google DeepMind’s John Jumper On Winning The Nobel Prize And The Future Of AlphaFold

America’s Shipbuilding Crisis: Can the U.S. Build Enough Ships to Keep up with China?

Brent Crane of Wire China dives into the alarming state of U.S. shipbuilding and the nation's struggle to keep pace with China’s unparalleled production capacity. The story unfolds with Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro’s unprecedented efforts to rally South Korean and Japanese shipbuilders to invest in American shipyards, a testament to America's urgent quest to revive its maritime prowess.

Since the 1970s, the U.S. has watched its shipbuilding capabilities shrink, leaving only a handful of shipyards. In contrast, China’s rapid growth has led it to hold the world’s largest navy and dominate commercial shipbuilding, producing 232 times the capacity of the U.S. This disparity has sparked a critical question in Washington: How can the U.S. reclaim its maritime strength in a world where naval dominance underpins global influence? A must read. “People would be concerned about the U.S. shipbuilding industry under any circumstances... But the context in which China poses this significant geopolitical challenge creates an additional interest and urgency.” — Eric Labs, Senior Analyst for Naval Forces, Congressional Budget Office.

Amazon Bets Big On Small Nuclear Reactors To Power Its Data Centers

In the silent corridors of data centers, Amazon is embracing an unexpected ally: nuclear energy. As the tech giant’s power demands grow insatiable, it’s turning to Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to provide a steady, carbon-free power source, partnering with Dominion Energy and X-energy to bring this ambitious vision to life. These compact reactors, capable of operating 24/7, offer a glimpse into the future of energy—scalable, reliable, and resilient. Fantastic reporting by Amy Feldman, a senior editor at Forbes. For Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services, this shift is essential: “Over the last year, we have become much more bullish about what nuclear can provide,” he shares, recognizing SMRs as the “most promising” technology for sustaining the world’s digital heart.

How A Small Cap Juggernaut Is Retooling The Power Grid And Helping Navy Ships Avoid Mines

Penned by Sergei Klebnikov of Forbes, this piece tells the remarkable comeback story of American Superconductor (AMSC), a Massachusetts-based company that has risen from near collapse to becoming an innovator in renewable energy and defense technology. AMSC, originally created in an MIT professor’s kitchen, now leverages cutting-edge superconductor technology to strengthen the U.S. power grid and protect naval vessels from magnetic mines. This leap into defense led AMSC to secure a $75 million contract with the Canadian Navy, with further potential across Allied navies.

AMSC’s resilience is rooted in its ability to “walk before running,” maintaining slow and steady growth after recovering from the 2011 loss of its largest client, China’s Sinovel, to trade-secret theft. This calculated approach has driven AMSC’s gradual resurgence, with CEO Daniel McGahn’s forward-thinking leadership at the helm.

“We're trying to design a business that can be resilient in any economy with any policy, with any politician, in any market.” — Daniel McGahn

Oil Was Written Off. Now It’s the Most Productive US Industry

Bloomberg’s Catarina Saraiva, David Wethe, Mitchell Ferman, and Kevin Crowley dive into the awe-inspiring resurgence of the U.S. oil industry. The once-dismissed oil and gas sector has transformed into a powerhouse of productivity, overtaking even tech in labor efficiency gains over the past decade. From Texas's vast shale fields, engineers like those at Matador Resources are innovating with techniques like the “horseshoe well,” which allows them to cut costs and increase yields by half. The industry’s relentless drive for efficiency has pushed U.S. oil output to a staggering 13.3 million barrels a day—more than 48% higher than Saudi Arabia's output, with far fewer rigs and workers than a decade ago.

This relentless innovation is helping the U.S. defy expectations, keeping oil prices down and supporting economic re-industrialization. But the impact isn’t just economic; as Chevron CEO Mike Wirth puts it:

“We’re getting more for every dollar we spend, applying new technologies. Every advancement in extraction efficiency and every well drilled speaks to a remarkable tale of resilience and adaptation that echoes across sectors and may add $10 trillion to U.S. GDP by 2030.

The World’s Largest Plumbing Repair

In a tale of persistence and human ingenuity, the Delaware Aqueduct—a vast, 85-mile water artery carrying half of New York City's water supply from the Catskills—faces its most significant challenge in decades. Crumbling limestone beneath the river has turned this aqueduct into a leaky lifeline, losing up to 35 million gallons of water daily. Now, a $2 billion bypass project, over a decade in the making, aims to restore this vital waterway.

The undertaking is nothing short of a "bypass surgery" for the city, involving colossal tunnels, winter dewatering events, and connecting the new infrastructure to the old. As Mark Peterson, the project photographer, remarked, “At night, you could see this haze drifting out of the shaft, and they said it was fog. It’s cold down there.” It’s a surreal scene, highlighting the fragility and resilience of the infrastructure that sustains millions.

This inspiring look into the heart of New York’s infrastructure was masterfully captured by Christopher Bonanos. For more from him, you can explore his work here.

The Mining Industry’s Next Frontier Is Deep, Deep Under the Sea

Vince Beiser pens a must read deep dive into the ambitions and risks of seabed mining. In the deep recesses of the Pacific, nearly three miles below, a bold new frontier unfolds as the world eyes the ocean floor's metallic bounty. This rich, uncharted seabed, laden with polymetallic nodules, offers a potential solution to the electric vehicle industry's soaring demand for metals. The Metals Company, led by the intrepid Gerard Barron, has become the focal point of this marine expedition, casting a "90-ton machine the size of a small house" to extract these valuable rocks amid the murky silence of the abyss.

Barron's vision is grand but controversial, with both promise and peril for our planet's largest ecosystem. As he put it, “The biggest challenge to our planet is climate change and biodiversity loss. We don’t have a spare decade to sit around.” This audacious venture sparks both awe and anxiety as it seeks to rewrite the rules of sustainability in our resource-strapped world.

“As an environmentalist,” Barron says, he finds the opposition to his plans frustrating. “‘Save the oceans’ is a really easy slogan to get behind. I’m behind it!” he says. “I want to save the oceans, but I also want to save the planet.” It might be true that getting metals from the seafloor is less damaging than getting them from land. But so far, few outside the industry are convinced.

Meet ZachXBT, the Masked Vigilante Tracking Down Billions in Crypto Scams and Thefts:

In the shadowed alleys of the digital world, one man has emerged as a masked vigilante, hunting down billions in stolen crypto—a modern-day detective cloaked in anonymity. Known only as ZachXBT, he watches the blockchain, waiting for hints of misdeeds to surface. Recently, his vigilance uncovered what might be the largest crypto heist against a single individual: $243 million in Bitcoin vanishing in a single, stunning theft. This masked sleuth unraveled the theft mid-flight, tracing the flow through exchanges, coin-swapping services, and finally to its owners. Written by Andy Greenberg, a senior writer for WIRED, this true story reads like a thriller.

In his words, “I see money seized, money returned to victims, people arrested, and that's my goal. That's what I set out to do.” Fueled by justice, not fortune, ZachXBT's impact on the crypto underworld grows with every case he solves.

Millennial Mining Heirs Bet the Family Business on Argentine Copper

In the rugged Andes of Argentina, where few dare venture, the Lundin brothers, heirs to a storied mining legacy, are betting on copper amidst the country’s political storms. Adam and Jack Lundin, embodying a family tradition of risk and adventure, have taken the helm of Lundin Mining Corp., expanding their father’s legacy in search of the copper needed for the world’s green transition. Raised to endure challenges from a young age, their bond with Argentina is no different—drawn by the lure of an untapped mineral district in a nation yearning for economic revitalization.

The brothers’ ambitious commitment is a bet on more than just metal; it’s a wager on Argentina’s volatile political landscape and a belief in an electrified future. Reflecting on their mission, Adam Lundin notes: “As the world moves to electrify, we’re all going to need a lot more copper. We can play a big role in that.”

Google DeepMind’s John Jumper On Winning The Nobel Prize And The Future Of AlphaFold

In the realm where science meets the extraordinary, John Jumper of Google DeepMind has ventured into the intricate mysteries of life itself, earning a Nobel Prize for his creation of AlphaFold. This AI marvel decodes the enigma of protein folding, a problem that has puzzled scientists for over half a century, and with it, opens new frontiers in medicine and biology. When Jumper saw the Swedish area code on his phone, he hesitated, not daring to believe he had won. “I really didn’t think it was going to happen,” he later reflected. Now, his work stands as a testament to the power of AI to unlock what was once thought impossible.