The mining sector has been solidly bullish so far this year and investors are scrambling to capitalize. The new tech-driven industrial revolution is requiring all sorts of metals and materials, and even gold has been surging due to it being a safe haven asset for those who aren’t so bullish about the broader market rally.
Plus, mining companies are integrating AI and automation to modernize operations. This could unlock $1.5 trillion in energy transition mineral revenue by 2024.
The stars seem to be aligning for gold producers, lithium explorers, copper miners, and many other companies linked with mining. It is worth looking deeper into these stocks, as some have solid upside potential as they expand operations.
Aerial shot of a mining facility, revealing the vastness of the companies resources.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the top-performing mining stocks year-to-date. Stocks that I have covered recently will be excluded from this list.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds invest in? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).
15. Gold Royalty Corp (NYSEAMERICAN:GROY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 12
Gold Royalty Corp (NYSEAMERICAN:GROY) is a precious metals royalty and streaming company.
The stock is up sharply year-to-date as it reported a 231% year-over-year sales increase in 2024. Revenue came in at $12.8 million and drove cash flow from royalties.
The company acquired Vares Copper Stream in 2024 and the Côté Gold Royalty entered production in 2024. The latter is expected to reach full capacity this year, with the Borborema Mine slated to begin production this quarter.
Aggregating all this should lead to more cash flow this year. Analysts expect $11 million in 2025 OCF.
The consensus price target of $3.67 implies 175.69% upside.
GROY stock is up 9.92% year-to-date.
14. Solitario Resources Corp (NYSEAMERICAN:XPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 2
Solitario Resources Corp (NYSEAMERICAN:XPL) is a mineral exploration company that focuses on high-grade gold and zinc.
The stock has delivered solid gains so far in 2025 due to breakthrough drilling results at its Golden Crest gold project.
It reported high-grade gold intercepts at the aforementioned project. The discovery means there’s potential for large-scale high-grade deposits similar to the historic Homestake mine. And earlier last year, surface sampling identified three new zones with high-grade gold.
As such, there is a lot of optimism about where this stock could go in the coming years.
The consensus price target of $1.6 implies 143.98% upside.
XPL stock is up 10.31% year-to-date.
