Copper prices have seen considerable gains in 2025, reaching a record high on the COMEX of US$5.68 per pound on July 8. Rising prices and supportive policy have elevated many copper stocks.
The price of copper has experienced volatility since the start of the year, as shifting US trade policy has created competing scenarios amid recession and the imposition of tariffs.
On July 8, the price spiked to fresh all-time highs after US President Donald Trump announced he would impose a 50 percent tariff on all copper being imported into the United States.
Although no specific timeline was set for when the tariffs would take effect, the price of metals gained on the COMEX as traders worked to secure supplies ahead of any potential deadline. Despite since recording a marginal pullback, copper has continued to trade near record highs.
Meanwhile, the copper price on the London Metals Exchange didn't receive the same lift from the tariff news, although it did briefly move above US$10,000 per metric ton on July 2 before pulling back to under US$9,700.
Against that backdrop, how have TSX-listed copper companies performed? Learn about the top five best-performing copper stocks in 2025 by year-to-date gains below. Data for this article was retrieved on July 16, 2025, using TradingView's stock screener, and only companies with market capitalizations greater than C$50 million are included.
1. St. Augustine Gold and Copper (TSX:SAU)
Year-to-date gain: 281.25 percent
Market cap: C$303.42 million
Share price: C$0.305
St. Augustine Gold and Copper is a development company focused on its King-king copper-gold project in the Philippines' Davao de Oro province. The project consists of 184 mining claims.
According to the latest preliminary economic assessment from 2013, the company projects an after-tax net present value of US$1.78 billion, with an internal rate of return of 24 percent and a payback period of 2.4 years using a base case scenario of a copper price of US$3.00 per pound and a gold price of US$1,250 per ounce.
The company is currently working towards an update to the study.
On May 30, St. Augustine announced that it had entered into an agreement with the National Development Corporation (Nadecor) to acquire a 100 percent interest in Nadecor's wholly owned subsidiary Kingking Milling, which holds the development rights to King-king.
Under the terms of the deal, Nadecor will receive C$9.02 million convertible into 185 million shares.
The project's exploration and development permits are held by Kingking Mining, which remains a 40/40/20 joint venture between St. Augustine, Nadecor and Queensberry Mining and Development. The release also includes details of new ore sales and royalty agreements between Kingking Milling and Kingking Mining.
On June 18, St. Augustine completed a debt conversion with Queensberry Mining originally announced on June 2, converting C$1.67 million in debt owed to Queensbury into 25.31 million common shares in St. Augustine at C$0.066 per share.
A follow-up announcement from Queensberry Mining stated that the shares represent a 2.5 percent stake in St. Augustine, increasing Queensberry’s holdings in the company to 52 percent of the total issued and outstanding shares.
Shares in St. Augustine Gold and Copper reached a year-to-date high of C$0.325 on July 7.
2. Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX:NDM)
Year-to-date gain: 269.41 percent
Market cap: C$1.59 billion
Share price: C$3.14
Northern Dynasty Minerals is an exploration and development company focused on the Pebble project, a copper-molybdenum-gold-silver project located 200 miles southwest of Anchorage in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, US.
Northern Dynasty says the site is “one of the greatest stores of mineral wealth ever discovered.”
It hosts a measured and indicated copper resource of 6.5 billion metric tons and an inferred copper resource of 4.5 billion metric tons. The Pebble property's measured and indicated resources for molybdenum, gold and silver total 1.26 million metric tons, 53.82 million ounces and 249.3 million ounces, respectively.
The project stalled in 2020 during the permitting phase following a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) veto that suggested the proposed mine would damage the Bristol Bay watershed.
Early in 2024, the Supreme Court declined to hear the matter on procedural grounds, sending it back to the federal district court and the federal circuit of appeals before the Supreme Court would hear it.
Northern Dynasty spent the rest of 2024 advancing its case in Alaska's state court. In March of that year, it announced the filing of actions to vacate the EPA’s veto.
In 2025, Shares of Northern Dynasty began to surge following US President Donald Trump’s March 20 executive order that called for expedited approvals for domestic mineral production and included copper as a strategically important mineral.
Since Trump became president, Northern Dynasty has been attempting to work with the EPA to vacate the veto on the project. On February 18, the company agreed to grant the EPA a requested 90 day extension to allow for review by the new leadership in the agency, and granted a further 30 day extension on May 14 and 20 day extension on June 12.
The most recent news came on July 4, when Northern Dynasty reported it was in negotiations with the EPA to explore a potential settlement and a decision was expected within the next two weeks.
Shares in Northern Dynasty reached a year-to-date high of C$3.14 on July 16.
Year-to-date gain: 133.15 percent
Market cap: C$715.56 million
Share price: C$4.29
Imperial Metals is a mine development and production company with operations in British Columbia, Canada.
It holds a 30 percent interest in the Red Chris mine in BC’s Golden Triangle, with the remainder owned by Newmont (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM,ASX:NEM). Imperial also fully owns the Mount Polley copper-gold mine, which reopened in June 2022, and the Huckleberry copper mine, which has been under care and maintenance since 2016.
On May 9, the company clarified that claims by third parties that an injunction was granted to halt construction at the tailings facilities of its Mount Polley operation were incorrect, and that normal operations of the mine and construction of the tailing facilities would continue. This clarification followed an application for an interim injunction by Xatśūll First Nation on May 8, challenging provincial approval for a 4 meter raise of the tailings storage facility embankment.
A June 30 update reported that the BC Supreme Court reserved judgement on the case after a four day hearing, with a decision expected August 6. The court permitted construction of the tailings storage raise to continue in the interim, and Imperial stated it will not deposit tailings reliant on the raise until the court makes its decision.
The company also released an update from its 2025 exploration program at the mine, highlighting an assay of 0.46 percent copper over 152.5 meters, which included an intersection of 0.67 percent copper over 85 meters.
Imperial released its Q2 and H1 production results for the Mount Polley mine on July 9, reporting that the mine's copper and gold production in the first half of the year increased 10.6 and 8.3 percent respectively, attributed to higher mill throughput as well as higher grades and recoveries for both metals. The mine produced 18.4 million pounds of copper and 21,682 ounces of gold during the period.
As for Red Chris, in Imperials' first-quarter financial results released on May 12, the company reported its total Q1 copper production increased to 23.13 million pounds from 16.66 million pounds in Q1 2024. Imperial’s 30 percent share of production was 6.94 million pounds of copper.
Shares in Imperial reached a year-to-date high of C$5.49 on June 12.
4. Generation Mining (TSX:GENM)
Year-to-date gain: 124.24 percent
Market cap: C$95.21 million
Share price: C$0.37
Generation Mining is a copper and palladium exploration and development company working to advance its flagship Marathon copper-palladium project in Northwestern Ontario, Canada.
The property consists of 46 leases and 933 claim cells covering a total area of 21,883 hectares. Certain areas of the property are subject to net smelter royalties, which range from 1 percent to 4 percent.
A feasibility study for the project released on March 28 demonstrated an after-tax net present value of US$1.07 billion with an internal rate of return of 27.6 percent and a payback period of 1.9 years. It has a mine life of 13 years with planned annual production of 42 million pounds of copper and 168,000 ounces of palladium.
The included mineral resource estimate for Marathon reported a total measured and indicated resource of 1.09 billion pounds of contained copper from 244.1 million tons of ore with an average grade of 0.2 percent.
During the first half of 2025, Generation has been working to gain the necessary permits from the Ontario government required to begin construction at the site. The company reported on March 11 it received the final construction permit, and on May 22 received the final environmental permit, allowing it to begin construction.
While the company has not announced when this will occur, it has continued to raise funds throughout the second quarter. On June 24, it closed on an C$11.5 million bought deal financing.
Additionally, the company reported on June 6 that the Ontario government named Marathon in its recent request to the federal government to provide funding for shovel-ready critical mineral projects.
Generation's share price has climbed significantly since mid-May, and reached a year-to-date high of C$0.44 on June 9.
Year-to-date gain: 100 percent
Market cap: C$270.83 million
Share price: C$0.75
Meridian Mining is an exploration and development company developing its flagship Cabaçal copper-gold project in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
The project license covers a 50 square kilometer area and hosts an 11 kilometer volcanogenic massive sulfide corridor containing gold, copper and silver.
A pre-feasibility study released March 10 demonstrates a post-tax base case net present value of US$984 million with an internal rate of return of 61 percent and a payback period of 17 months. The project has a predicted mine life of 10.6 years with total life of mine production of 169,647 metric tons of copper.
The included mineral resource estimate for Cabaçal shows a measured and indicated resource of 204,470 metric tons of contained copper from 51.43 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 0.4 percent. It also hosts significant gold and silver resources.
Meridian has been carrying out an extensive exploration program at the site. The most recent results came on July 9, when it reported significant copper grades and highlighted an interval of 2.6 percent copper equivalent over 28.6 meters, including an intersection of 6.9 percent copper over 2.8 meters.
Additionally, Meridian reported on May 8 it hired Ausenco Brazil as the lead engineer to complete a definitive feasibility study for Cabaçal. It is targeting the first half of 2026 for completion.
Shares in Meridian reached a year-to-date high of C$0.88 on June 12.
FAQs for investing in copper
Is copper a good investment in 2025?
Many experts have a positive long-term outlook for the red metal based on supply concerns and its growing role in the energy transition. Copper's price has climbed to new all time highs in 2025, bringing many stocks with it.
Investors who are interested in copper should make sure to perform their due diligence, as the volatility and unpredictability of markets and economies at the moment means that nothing is guaranteed.
What is copper used for?
Copper is used in many industries, from construction to electronics to medical equipment. In fact, in 2022, 32 percent of copper globally was used in equipment manufacturing and 26 percent in building construction.
Two other growing sectors for copper are the burgeoning electric vehicle and green energy industries. Electric vehicles require a significant amount of the red metal per vehicle.
Check out our article on the topic for more copper uses.
How to invest in copper?
Investors can get exposure to copper in a variety of ways. Holding physical copper is possible, but plenty of storage would be required to hold any significant value of the metal.
For investors looking to invest in the metal without physically holding it, there are a few options. Copper stocks such as those on the TSX, TSXV and ASX are worth looking at. Additionally, there are copper exchange-traded funds and the copper options and futures markets on the London Metal Exchange.
How to invest in a copper ETF?
Copper exchange-traded funds (ETFs) focused on mining companies can be a good way to diversify an investment portfolio, and they can be a more stable option compared to individual copper miners or explorers. There are multiple options available on the market, and they can usually be purchased in the same way one could purchase stocks through a broker or trading platform.
In May 2022, Horizons launched Canada’s first copper equities ETF, the Horizons Copper Producers Index ETF (TSX:COPP). This Canadian copper ETF is focused solely on pure-play and diversified copper-mining companies.
There are multiple ETFs available on the US ARCA exchange as well. The Global X Copper Miners ETF (ARCA:COPX) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes copper miners, as well as copper explorers and developers. The other option is the United States Copper Index Fund (ARCA:CPER), which gives investors exposure to copper futures contracts by tracking the SummerHaven Copper Index Total Return.
How is copper priced?
The copper price is tracked in two ways: COMEX copper and London Metal Exchange (LME) copper. The COMEX and LME are both options and futures metal exchanges, with the former being headquartered in New York and the latter in London. COMEX copper is priced by the pound, while LME copper is priced per metric ton.
How is copper processed?
Once copper is mined, the ore goes through multiple steps to reach a market-ready state. First, the ore is ground to roughly separate the rock from the copper, as copper typically only makes up 1 percent of the mined rock.
The resultant copper is then slurried with water and chemical reagents, after which air is used to float the copper to the top of the mixture. After the copper is removed from this, it is typically at 24 to 40 percent purity.
Lastly, the copper is refined at a refining plant or smelter using one of two methods, pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Pyrometallurgy is employed for copper ore that is sulfide rich, while hydrometallurgy is used when the ore is oxide rich. The Investing News Network's guide on copper refining goes into further detail about how those processes work. Once these processes are complete, the copper is concentrated to up to 99.99 percent purity.
Where is copper mined?
Copper is mined throughout the world, with significant production found on every continent besides Antarctica. Chile was the top producer in 2024, putting out 5.3 million metric tons of the metal. Other major top copper producers are the Democratic Republic of Congo with 3.3 million MT, Peru with 2.6 million MT, China with 1.8 million MT. Indonesia and the United States were tied in 2024 1.1 million MT of copper.
Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, own shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals.
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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