Which Mining Firms Are Striking It Rich in the Metals Rally?

Key Points

• Despite a sell-off that shed trillions of dollars worth of market value in just a few days, gold remains one of the best-performing investments in the last year.
• Companies in the business of mining gold and other precious metals, such as Hecla Mining, Coeur Mining, and Kinross Gold, have all experienced massive share price rallies alongside the movement in the price of gold itself.
• These three firms could stand out for their focus on expansion, their acquisitions, or their history of strong shareholder returns, among other factors.

Despite shedding more than $600 from its all-time high price of roughly $5,600 per ounce in late January, gold is still one of the hottest purchases available to investors in 2026. The quick sell-off, which followed the announcement of President Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh to be the new chair of the Federal Reserve, erased trillions of dollars' worth of value in a few days. However, some investors anticipate that, absent substantive changes in the factors initially driving the precious metals rally, it will restart.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, when the price of gold swells, so too in many cases do the share prices of some of the companies most directly responsible for producing gold. Gold mining stocks as a group have fared very well in the last year, with the rough benchmark of the VanEck Gold Miners ETF NYSEARCA: GDX returning an impressive 147% in the last 12 months. A few names in the gold mining space, in particular, may stand out to investors expecting there to be more room for gold prices to soar in the months to come.

A Dual Silver-Gold Play With Strong Fundamentals

Hecla Mining Co. NYSE: HL has a dual focus on gold and silver thanks to its mining operations in Alaska and Idaho, as well as internationally. Still, its silver operations are increasingly a priority—and the boost to silver as part of the larger precious metals rally in the last several quarters has helped to drive HL shares up 300%, even after falling toward the end of January.

While investors primarily see Hecla as a silver miner, gold still represented 37% of the $410 million in revenue the company generated for the last reported quarter. This was supported by a strong consolidated free cash flow of about $90 million. The company is working to pay down debt and managed to reduce its net leverage to about 0.3x in the third quarter of 2025, which should shore up its financial stability in case the price of silver and gold continue to struggle for a period before the rally reignites.

Perhaps most importantly, Hecla's mining assets are stellar, and operations have been highly successful. All four of its mines have generated positive free cash flow for two consecutive quarters. To be sure, risks do remain associated with costs, but Hecla has so far balanced a disciplined financial approach with growth in production.

Major Merger Could Be Transformative for Coeur

At a time when many mining companies are seeking to capitalize on the metals rally to fuel expansion, Coeur Mining Inc. NYSE: CDE is taking an M&A-focused approach. The company has moved to acquire New Gold in a deal that should be completed in the first half of the year. Upon completion of the merger, Coeur will have an impressive seven mining operations across North America, producing roughly 1.25 million gold-equivalent ounces in 2026.

Coeur is supporting this growth by improving its cash flow. However, the firm missed EPS slightly in the last reported quarter. However, the growth trajectory likely to take place when the New Gold acquisition is complete has helped to fuel not only a tripling of the price of CDE shares in the last year, but also continued analyst interest. Coeur has a solid Buy rating across Wall Street despite trading slightly above the consensus price target of around $18 per share.

Solid Operations and an Attractive Shareholder Return Program

Kinross Gold Corp. NYSE: KGC has also grown rapidly amid the recent rally, and this senior gold producer has also been able to maintain its operational excellence in the process.

In the third quarter of 2025, it produced over 500,000 ounces of gold and generated record free cash flow of about $687 million. A stronger cash position has meant shareholder returns in the form of both stock buybacks and a boost to its dividend.

The company also appeals to investors for its strong portfolio of mining assets that is continuing to develop as Kinross advances several new sites on both engineering and permitting fronts. This has made it a favorite of many analysts even as shares have climbed by 185% in the last year.