VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Professional services firm EY’s Canadian Mining Eye index surged 42% during the three months ended June 30, as major miners gained 29% on the back of rising gold and base metal prices.
Gold prices increased by 7% in the second quarter, compared with 16% gains in the prior period, while the major base metals performed sluggishly until May, with the exception of zinc. The majority of base metals prices rebounded in June, but zinc continued to outperform among the metal group with a 16% gain in the second quarter, compared with a 14% gain in the first quarter, thanks to the positive supply-demand gap working in its favour.
EY noted that the Canadian Mining Eye index significantly outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which gained 4% during the period, as well as the London Metal Exchange index, which gained 4% over the quarter, and EY’s Aim-based Mining Eye, which increased by only 19% during period.
EY noted that the S&P/TSX Composite Metals and Mining index witnessed a significant gain of 40% in the second quarter, following a 34% gain in the first quarter of the year.
In the aftermath of debt and operational restructuring in the mining industry, including deleveraging, cost optimisation efforts and capital expenditures suspension, mining companies had already started to see improvements in their earnings, stated the firm’s mining and metals research team in the latest report.
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