Rick Rule of Sprott US Holdings is well known in the field of mining investment, and his breadth and depth of experience means that when he talks it's essential to pay attention. We managed to grab a few minutes with Rick during which he gives us a great overview about the state of mining investment in 2018, and how things may shape up going forward.Rick also gives us a few pointers of companies he has his eye on, in addition to categories of stocks that he sees as having a strong upside. :Rick talks about being in a bear market, how 2018 continued the run of challenging years, but how, as lenders during a period when equity was less available, Sprott continued to make high rates of return.But what about the rest of us? Rick's positive that bear markets are of course authors of bull markets and sees encouraging signs in mining right now and into 2019. Other changes he's noticed? For the first time he's seeing younger, female investors coming into mining. At the same conference where we celebrated Women in Mining this is great to hear.Rick also shares his thoughts on the arrival of cannabis investments into the market, and how different these kinds of investments are to mining. It should come as no surprise to say he isn't as keen on cannabis stocks as he is on mining.