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About the Industry
The Zacks Mining - Non Ferrous industry comprises companies that produce non-ferrous metals, including copper, gold, silver, cobalt, molybdenum, zinc, aluminum and uranium. These metals are utilized by various industries, including aerospace, automotive, packaging, construction, machinery, electronics, transportation, jewelry, chemical and nuclear energy. Mining is a long, complex and capital-intensive process. Significant exploration and development to evaluate the size of the deposit, followed by the assessment of ways to extract and process ore efficiently, safely and responsibly, precede the actual mining operations. Miners continuously seek opportunities to grow their reserves and resources through targeted near-mine exploration and business development. They strive to upgrade and improve the quality of their existing assets internally and through acquisitions.
What's Shaping the Future of the Mining - Non Ferrous Industry?
Improving Metal Prices to Aid Industry: Silver prices surged 170% in 2025, driven by a convergence of factors, including elevated geopolitical risks, economic uncertainty, resilient demand and tightening inventories. Silver prices are up 8.6% so far this year. Silver is likely headed for another deficit this year, which is expected to support prices. Gold prices are currently hovering near $5,000 an ounce on geopolitical tensions, a 15.3% gain so far this year. Prices were up 66.5% in 2025. Copper futures are up 24.2% in a year, driven by high demand amid expectations of a tightening in global supply this year. Uranium prices have recently retreated to $92 per pound after hitting a two-year high of $101.50 on expectations of an increase in supply. Silver, copper and uranium were recently added to the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) critical minerals list, underscoring their strategic importance to the U.S. economy and national security. Industry players are dealing with depleting resources, declining supply in old mines and a lack of new mines. Development projects are inherently risky and capital-intensive. While demand has been strong, there will be an eventual deficit in metal supply, leading to a situation that will bolster metal prices. This, in turn, will favor the industry in the long run.
Efforts Underway to Sustain Margins Amid High Costs: The industry has been facing a shortage of skilled workforce lately, which has hiked wages. Industry players have also been grappling with escalating production costs, including electricity, water and materials, as well as higher freight expenses and supply-chain issues. Since the industry cannot control the prices of its products, it focuses on improving sales volumes, increasing operating cash flows and lowering unit net cash costs. Industry participants are opting for alternate energy sources to minimize fuel-price volatility and secure supply. Miners are now committed to cost-reduction strategies and digital innovation to drive operating efficiencies.
Strong Demand to Support Industry: The demand for non-ferrous metals will remain high in the future, given their wide use in primary sectors, including transportation, electricity, construction, telecommunication, energy and information technology. The demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy is expected to be a significant growth driver for metals like copper and nickel in the years to come. The plan to overhaul and upgrade the nation’s infrastructure, and promote green policies, per the U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will also require a massive amount of non-ferrous metals.
Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Bright Prospects
The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, basically the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates bright prospects for the near term. The Zacks Mining - Non Ferrous industry, an 11-stock group within the broader Zacks Basic Materials Sector, currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #74, which places it in the top 30% of 243 Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
Before we present a few stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, let us look at the industry’s recent stock-market performance and its valuation picture.
Industry Versus S&P 500 & Sector
The Zacks Mining- Non Ferrous Industry has outperformed its sector but lagged the Zacks S&P 500 composite over the past 12 months. The stocks in this industry have collectively gained 77.9% in the past year compared with the Zacks Basic Materials sector’s gain of 43%. The S&P 500 has grown 14.2% in the said time frame.
Industry's Current Valuation
Based on the trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA ratio, a commonly used multiple for valuing Mining- Non Ferrous stocks, we see that the industry is currently trading at 16.95X compared with the S&P 500’s 17.80X. The Basic Materials sector’s trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA is 17.23X. This is shown in the charts below.
Over the last three years, the industry traded as high as 18.28X and as low as 4.11X, the median being 9.56X.
4 Mining - Non Ferrous Stocks to Keep a Tab on
Coeur Mining: The company’s revenues nearly doubled to $2.1 billion in 2025 on record production and strong prices. Net income surged more than tenfold to $586 million, while adjusted EBITDA more than tripled to $1 billion. Portfolio-wide strength drove full-year output of 419,046 ounces of gold and 17.9 million ounces of silver, up 23% and 57% year over year, respectively. Shareholders of both Coeur and New Gold have approved Coeur’s acquisition of New Gold, which remains on track to close in the first half of 2026. This deal will create a new, 100% North American senior mining company, placed among the top 10 largest precious metals companies and the top five largest silver producers globally. It will boast seven high-quality operations producing approximately 1.25 million gold equivalent ounces in 2026. This includes 20 million ounces of silver and 900,000 ounces of gold. The combined company is expected to generate approximately $3 billion of EBITDA and approximately $2 billion of free cash flow in 2026 at significantly lower overall costs and higher margins. This strong financial position is expected to accelerate investment in multiple high-return organic growth opportunities.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Chicago, IL-based company’s fiscal 2026 earnings indicates a year-over-year improvement of 149%. The consensus estimate has moved up 12.4% over the past 30 days. CDE has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 108.6%, on average. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Southern Copper: The company posted record net sales of $13.4 billion for 2025. It has the largest copper reserve in the industry and operates world-class assets in investment-grade countries, such as Mexico and Peru. SCCO expects to ramp up its copper production to around 1.6 million tons by 2033, indicating a 6.6% CAGR over 2025. To support this expansion, the company plans to invest more than $20.5 billion over the next decade, with $10.3 billion earmarked for Peru. Its low-cost, integrated operations and deep pipeline of world-class greenfield projects further strengthen its competitive positioning.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s fiscal 2026 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 21.4%. The estimate has moved up 2% over the past 30 days. SCCO has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 19.1%. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of around 8.3%, on average. SCCO currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Freeport-McMoRan: The company is well-poised for growth, backed by its high-quality copper assets. It continues to expand reserves through exploration near existing mines. At its Cerro Verde operation in Peru, a large-scale concentrator expansion provided incremental annual production of around 600 million pounds of copper and 15 million pounds of molybdenum. It has completed the evaluation of a large-scale expansion at El Abra in Chile to define a large sulfide resource that could potentially support a major mill project similar to the large-scale concentrator at Cerro Verde, with an estimated resource of approximately 20 billion recoverable pounds of copper. The company is also advancing pre-feasibility studies in the Safford/Lone Star operations in Arizona to define a significant sulfide expansion opportunity. It has expansion opportunities at Bagdad in Arizona to more than double the concentrator capacity of the operation. Technical and economic studies have revealed the potential to build concentrating facilities to boost copper production by 200-250 million pounds annually.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FCX’s earnings for fiscal 2026 indicates year-over-year growth of 41.8%. The estimate has moved up 8% over the past 90 days. FCX has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 26.8%, on average. It has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 36.6%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.
Lundin Mining: The company recently increased its Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources copper mineral resources by 37%. It also announced the results of the integrated technical study for the Vicuña project, which comprises the Filo del Sol deposit and the Josemaria deposit. This marks a major step toward advancing the project to a sanction decision. It is expected to rank among the top five copper, gold and silver mines globally. In 2025, LUNMF’s copper production was 331,232 tons and gold output was 141,859 ounces, surpassing guidance. LUNMF forecasts 2026 consolidated copper production of 310,000-335,000 tons and gold production of 134,000-149,000 ounces at a cash cost guidance of $1.90-$2.10 per pound. Forecasted consolidated copper production is 315,000-340,000 tons in 2027 and 290,000-315,000 tons in 2028. The company is continuing to advance its growth initiatives as part of its strategic aspirations to become a global top-ten copper producer.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vancouver, Canada-based LUNMF’s fiscal 2026 earnings indicates a year-over-year improvement of 42.6%. The estimate has moved up 10% over the past 30 days. It has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 46%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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