What you need to know: • Metals kicked off 2025 with explosive gains, as gold (+12.3%), silver (+17.6%), and copper (+4.4%) surged to fresh highs before late-month pullbacks, all finishing January meaningfully higher MoM. • Mining equities extended their outperformance, with the GDX (+9.9%), GDXJ (+9.1%), SILJ (+13.3%), and COPX (+18.0%) outperforming broader indices (S&P 500 +1.6%, TSX +0.6%). • Critical minerals remained a key focus, with uranium (+24.1%) breaking out on nuclear restocking and data-center demand, while lithium (+35.4%) extended its 2025 run as supply deficits loom. The mining sector entered 2026 with powerful momentum, extending the rally that defined 2025 as supply constraints, surging demand for critical minerals, and a macro backdrop favouring real assets over fiat currencies converged. Gold decisively broke through $5,000/oz early in January and surged past $5,500/oz, while silver breached $100/oz and ripped to $120/oz, marking its first move into triple-digit territory. Copper pushed to new all-time highs above $6.50/lb, and platinum extended its explosive 2025 run to $2,785/oz. In the final few days of the month, metals saw healthy pullbacks from peak levels, with gold retreating to ~$4,850/oz, silver easing into the mid-$80s/oz, copper settling in the ~$5.90s/lb, and platinum pulling back toward $2,100/oz. Importantly, despite this late-month consolidation, all major metals remained meaningfully higher on a MoM basis. Silver alone still delivered gains that far outpaced broader equity markets, reinforcing the scale of the rotation into hard assets. Turning to critical minerals, governments accelerated stockpiling and incentive programs. Uranium moved higher on new reactor announcements and nuclear power agreements tied to data-center growth, while lithium rallied as energy-storage demand pushed the market toward a potential deficit by mid-2026. These trends underscore the growing strategic importance of critical minerals across clean energy, defence, and AI infrastructure, with copper deficits alone projected to reach multi-million-ton levels by 2040.