Picture supply: Getty Photographs
The UK inventory market has made a powerful comeback over the previous month, with many industries having fun with renewed investor curiosity. This has been prompted by enhancing financial sentiment, falling inflation expectations, and hopes for rate of interest cuts within the second half of 2025.
One sector specifically is the UK mining trade, which seems to be getting into a contemporary part of development.
After years of volatility, demand for key industrial metals appears to be rising once more. That is possible because of elevated infrastructure funding, the worldwide vitality transition, and resilient Chinese language consumption. This renewed urge for food for uncooked supplies has sparked positive aspects throughout mining shares, from blue chips to mid-caps.
Buyers eager to capitalise on this pattern might need to take into account two mid-cap FTSE 250 mining corporations which can be serving to gasoline the resurgence: Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) and Atalaya Mining (LSE: ATYM).
An undervalued miner with robust fundamentals
Ferrexpo has delivered a 15.6% achieve over the previous month, greater than another main miner within the UK. With a market capitalisation of £391.2m, the iron ore pellet producer stays modestly sized, but its valuation seems enticing. Its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of simply 0.53 suggests the inventory is buying and selling effectively under what buyers are keen to pay for comparable shares.
Presently, it’s unprofitable, with an earnings per share (EPS) of -7p. But the corporate’s steadiness sheet stays a stable indication of promising efficiency. It holds £737m in fairness, £84.5m in money, and solely £4m in debt — a remarkably low gearing degree for a useful resource agency. This monetary place gives it with the flexibleness to climate commodity worth fluctuations and probably return to profitability ought to market circumstances proceed to enhance.
As is widespread in mining, geopolitical dangers are a key concern. Ferrexpo operates in Ukraine, and whereas current operations have continued, the continuing battle within the area poses a persistent menace. Nonetheless, for risk-tolerant buyers, the present share worth may maintain vital development potential if iron ore costs stay agency.
Copping a copper comeback
Atalaya Mining is one other FTSE 250 miner gaining traction, having seen its share worth rise 14.6% previously month. With a market cap of £585.5m, the Spanish-based copper producer is benefiting from renewed optimism round copper demand, significantly because of its function in electrical automobiles and renewable vitality infrastructure.
Atalaya has a reasonable price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of twenty-two.71 — cheap given its development potential. Its steadiness sheet can also be in fine condition, with £428.7m in fairness, £43.7m in money, and simply £17.8m in debt, permitting it to fund growth initiatives and navigate market volatility.
Whereas its valuation displays some optimism, copper costs are notoriously cyclical and could possibly be derailed by a worldwide slowdown. Nonetheless, Atalaya seems well-positioned to profit from the present demand and has robust operational leverage if costs rise additional.
A development driver in 2025?
The FTSE 250 will not be the one index benefiting from this pattern. The same state of affairs is mirrored within the FTSE 100, the place bigger miners like Antofagasta and Anglo American have additionally rallied over 10% previously month. The broader mining sector is as soon as once more asserting itself as a pillar of UK market efficiency.
With international industrial demand choosing up and investor sentiment shifting, mining may play a significant function in driving UK financial and inventory market development in 2025 and past.
