Core Sample

About Core Sample

A podcast for women in mining, natural resources, oil & gas and defense. Pull up a chair. Glad you found us. sturnellahq.substack.com (https://sturnellahq.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Stories from the women holding up the mining, critical minerals, oil & gas and defense world.

Category

business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Mar 2026

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

22 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   The Backlog Is Growing But So Is The Deficit.

   Defense companies are reporting strong earnings, record backlogs, and growing demand for military capability but the United States is also running a federal deficit approaching $2 trillion, with rising debt-servicing costs creating additional pressure on government finances. How sustainable is the expansion of America’s defense industrial base, and what are taxpayers receiving in return? The Core Sample Takeaway A record backlog demonstrates demand but it does not guarantee production, cash flow, or delivery. The government can authorize spending, award contracts, and make long-term procurement commitments. Industry still needs the people, suppliers, materials, infrastructure, and capital required to deliver and those investments are taking place while federal borrowing and debt-servicing costs continue to rise. The backlog is growing but again, so is the US deficit. Reference Links Defense Earnings & Industrial Capacity * Northrop Grumman — Q3 2026 Financial Results (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1133421/000113342126000037/noc-09302026xearningsrelea.htm) * Lockheed Martin — Q3 2026 Earnings Webcast, October 22 (https://investors.lockheedmartin.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lockheed-martin-announces-third-quarter-2026-earnings-results) * RTX / Raytheon — $24.4 Billion SM-6 Multi-Year Contract (https://www.rtx.com/news/news-center/2026/10/01/rtxs-raytheon-awarded-24-4-billion-multi-year-contract-for-sm-6-interceptors) Federal Spending & Fiscal Outlook * U.S. Treasury — Monthly Treasury Statements (https://fiscal.treasury.gov/accounting/monthly-treasury-statement/) * Congressional Budget Office — Federal Budget Analysis (https://www.cbo.gov/) Follow Sturnella For ongoing analysis of capital markets, defense spending, critical minerals, energy infrastructure, cybersecurity, and the geopolitical forces shaping the industrial economy: * Sturnella Signals Newsletter: https://news.sturnellahq.com/ * Sturnella Website: https://sturnellahq.com/ * Core Sample on Apple Podcasts: About Core Sample Core Sample examines the intersection of cybersecurity, capital, critical minerals, industrial capacity, operational resilience, and national security. Pull up a chair. I’m really glad you found us. Disclaimer Everything on Core Sample is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this episode constitutes investment advice, financial advice, legal advice, cybersecurity advice for a particular system, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Sturnella LLC is a strategic-risk, capital-markets cybersecurity, and governance advisory firm. It is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, financial institution, engineering firm, or safety assessor. Government loans, conditional commitments, tariffs, procurement programs, and industrial-policy initiatives involve substantial financial, political, technical, operational, and execution risks. Always conduct your own research and work with qualified professionals who understand your particular circumstances, operating environment, and security requirements. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sturnellahq.substack.com (https://sturnellahq.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   20 Oct 2026

   Governments Can Move Fast but Supply Chains Can’t

   Governments can change policies, introduce tariffs, restrict exports, and commit billions of dollars to strategically important industries. Financial markets can respond almost immediately. But rebuilding an industrial supply chain takes years. In this episode of Core Sample, Sydnie examines the growing disconnect between geopolitical priorities, capital markets, and the physical realities of rebuilding America’s critical minerals and defense supply chains. From mining and separation to metal production, magnet manufacturing, and finished defense platforms, each stage requires specialized capabilities, financing, infrastructure, and qualified suppliers. China’s dominance in rare earth processing demonstrates how decades of industrial investment can create strategic dependencies that cannot be reversed through policy alone. We also explore the market enthusiasm surrounding companies such as MP Materials, Lithium Americas, and Trilogy Metals, and why substantial stock-price volatility doesn’t necessarily change the underlying strategic need for domestic production. As the United States expands government financing and attracts private capital into critical minerals and advanced manufacturing, the question becomes: Which investments will translate into actual industrial capacity, and how long will it take? In This Episode * How geopolitics, tariffs, export controls, and government policy reshape global supply chains. * The five stages of the rare earth magnet supply chain, from mine and concentrate to finished defense platforms. * Why China’s concentration of processing and manufacturing capacity creates strategic dependencies. * How the Office of Strategic Capital, federal financing, and sourcing requirements are influencing domestic industrial investment. * What MP Materials, Lithium Americas, and Trilogy Metals illustrate about government support, investor expectations, and market volatility. * Why separation, metal production, and component qualification can become critical supply-chain bottlenecks. * The role of private capital in financing and scaling domestic industrial capacity. * Why strategic importance, commercial viability, and stock-market performance operate on different timelines. The Core Sample Takeaway Markets move in seconds. Government policy can change in months. Mines, processing facilities, and manufacturing capacity take years to develop. A government commitment can improve a project’s financing prospects, and a rising stock price can reflect expectations of future growth. Neither guarantees that a company will successfully reach commercial production. The real measure of industrial policy will be how much financing becomes functioning, economically sustainable capacity. Government can move fast. Markets can move faster but supply chains take time. Reference Links Critical Minerals & Supply Chains * International Energy Agency — Rare Earth Elements: Executive Summary (https://www.iea.org/reports/rare-earth-elements/executive-summary) * IEA — Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 (https://www.iea.org/reports/global-critical-minerals-outlook-2025) Government Policy & Financing * White House — Securing America’s Defense Supply Chains and Ensuring Domestic Acquisition of Critical Materials (July 20, 2026) (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/securing-americas-defense-supply-chains-and-ensuring-domestic-acquisition-of-critical-materials/) * Department of War — Office of Strategic Capital: Investment Fund Financing (https://www.cto.mil/osc/investment-fund-financing/) Companies & Capital Markets * MP Materials — Public-Private Partnership with the Department of Defense (https://mpmaterials.com/news/mp-materials-announces-transformational-public-private-partnership-with-the-department-of-defense-to-accelerate-u-s-rare-earth-magnet-independence) * Lithium Americas — Thacker Pass Project and Financial Updates (https://www.lithiumamericas.com/news/news-details/2026/Lithium-Americas-Reports-Second-Quarter-2026-Results/default.aspx) * Trilogy Metals — U.S. Government Strategic Investment (https://trilogymetals.com/news-and-media/news/trilogy-metals-announces-strategic-investment-by-us-federal-government/) * JPMorganChase — Security and Resiliency Initiative (https://www.jpmorganchase.com/newsroom/press-releases/2026/one-year-security-resiliency-initiative-helping-strengthen-industries) Follow Sturnella Signals For ongoing analysis of capital markets, critical minerals, energy infrastructure, defense supply chains, cybersecurity, and the geopolitical forces shaping the industrial economy, subscribe to Sturnella Signals. Read and Subscribe to Sturnella Signals (https://news.sturnellahq.com/) About Core Sample Core Sample examines the intersection of cybersecurity, capital, critical minerals, industrial capacity, operational resilience, and national security. Produced by Sturnella. sturnellahq.com (https://sturnellahq.com) Pull up a chair. I’m really glad you found us. Disclaimer Everything on Core Sample is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this episode constitutes investment advice, financial advice, legal advice, cybersecurity advice for a particular system, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Sturnella LLC is a strategic-risk, capital-markets cybersecurity, and governance advisory firm. It is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, financial institution, engineering firm, or safety assessor. Government loans, conditional commitments, tariffs, procurement programs, and industrial-policy initiatives involve substantial financial, political, technical, operational, and execution risks. Always conduct your own research and work with qualified professionals who understand your particular circumstances, operating environment, and security requirements. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sturnellahq.substack.com (https://sturnellahq.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   16 Oct 2026

   Cybersecurity Shouldn't Be an Afterthought

   After attending Defense TechConnect and meeting entrepreneurs developing technologies for defense and advanced manufacturing, one question stood out: How do we make cybersecurity a natural part of building a business? Many of these companies are working with connected equipment, industrial systems, and operational technology (OT). As their technologies move from prototype to production, cybersecurity becomes increasingly important to protecting equipment, intellectual property, operations, and customer relationships. In this solo episode of Core Sample, we explore why cybersecurity needs to start with senior leadership, how smaller businesses can approach it without becoming overwhelmed, and what recent CISA advisories tell us about vulnerabilities affecting industrial environments. With the CMMC implementation timeline changing, the underlying responsibility to protect systems and information remains. Cybersecurity should grow alongside the business. In This Episode * Reflections from Defense TechConnect and the entrepreneurs building the next generation of defense technologies. * Why cybersecurity matters in operational technology and industrial environments. * What recent CISA advisories reveal about vulnerabilities and threats affecting connected industrial systems. * Why founders and senior leaders need to understand their company’s cybersecurity responsibilities. * How to begin identifying critical systems, equipment, information flows, and external dependencies. * Making cybersecurity part of product development, supplier relationships, and everyday operations. * Why operational resilience matters as small businesses scale. A Practical Takeaway for Founders Set aside 30 minutes with someone who understands your company’s technology and operations and ask five questions: * What systems and equipment are critical to keeping our business running? * What information are we responsible for protecting? * Which systems are connected, and who has access? * What suppliers or service providers do we depend on? * What happens if a critical system becomes unavailable? Understanding these dependencies is a practical first step toward building a more resilient business. Additional Resources * CISA — Industrial Control Systems (https://www.cisa.gov/topics/industrial-control-systems) * CISA — Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog) * NIST — Guide to Operational Technology Security (SP 800-82 Rev. 3) (https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/82/r3/final) * Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) (https://business.defense.gov/Programs/Cyber-Security-Resources/Cybersecurity-Maturity-Model-Certification/) * Signals - https://news.sturnellahq.com/ DISCLAIMER Everything on Core Sample is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this episode constitutes investment advice, financial advice, legal advice, cybersecurity advice for a particular system, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Sturnella LLC is a strategic-risk, capital-markets cybersecurity, and governance advisory firm. It is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, financial institution, engineering firm, or safety assessor. Government loans, conditional commitments, tariffs, procurement programs, and industrial-policy initiatives involve substantial financial, political, technical, operational, and execution risks. Always conduct your own research and work with qualified professionals who understand your particular circumstances, operating environment, and security requirements. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sturnellahq.substack.com (https://sturnellahq.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Contact Core Sample

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.