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Best Mining Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top mining stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best mining stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best mining stocks to buy right now are:

Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) is the #1 top mining stock out of 43 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) has a Due Diligence Score of 15, which is -6 points lower than the mining industry average of 21. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates NEXA as a "A".

NEXA passed 6 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Nexa Resources Sa has seen its stock return 114.04% over the past year, overperforming other mining stocks by 55 percentage points.

Nexa Resources Sa has an average 1 year price target of $9.00, a downside of -27.13% from Nexa Resources Sa's current stock price of $12.35.

Nexa Resources Sa stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Nexa Resources Sa, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 100% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Vale Sa (NYSE:VALE) is the #2 top mining stock out of 43 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Vale Sa (NYSE:VALE) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: A, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Vale Sa (NYSE:VALE) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 23 points higher than the mining industry average of 21.

VALE passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Vale Sa has seen its stock return 75.1% over the past year, overperforming other mining stocks by 16 percentage points.

Vale Sa has an average 1 year price target of $14.81, a downside of -11.51% from Vale Sa's current stock price of $16.74.

Vale Sa stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 7 analysts covering Vale Sa, 42.86% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 14.29% have issued a Buy, 42.86% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) is the #3 top mining stock out of 43 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) has a Due Diligence Score of 15, which is -6 points lower than the mining industry average of 21. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates CMP as a "B".

CMP passed 6 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Compass Minerals International has seen its stock return 83.17% over the past year, overperforming other mining stocks by 24 percentage points.

Compass Minerals International has an average 1 year price target of $21.50, a downside of -3.15% from Compass Minerals International's current stock price of $22.20.

Compass Minerals International stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Compass Minerals International, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 25% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 4 mining stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 mining stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Vale Sa (NYSE:VALE) has an annual dividend yield of 4.29%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the mining industry average of 1.9%. Vale Sa's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% seven times in the last 10 years. Vale Sa's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Vale Sa's dividend payout ratio of 57.8% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) has an annual dividend yield of 3.84%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the mining industry average of 1.9%. Rio Tinto's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% eleven times in the last 10 years. Rio Tinto's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Rio Tinto's dividend payout ratio of 61.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) has an annual dividend yield of 1.05%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the mining industry average of 1.9%. Ferroglobe's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Ferroglobe's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Ferroglobe's dividend payout ratio of -8.6% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Mining stocks were down -0.65% in the last day, and down -2.59% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why mining stocks are down.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued mining stocks right now are:

Vale Sa (NYSE:VALE) is the most undervalued mining stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Vale Sa has a valuation score of 43, which is 31 points higher than the mining industry average of 12. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Vale Sa's stock has gained 75.1% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mining industry by 16 percentage points.

Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) is the second most undervalued mining stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Nexa Resources Sa has a valuation score of 14, which is 2 points higher than the mining industry average of 12. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nexa Resources Sa's stock has gained 114.04% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mining industry by 55 percentage points.

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) is the third most undervalued mining stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Rio Tinto has a valuation score of 29, which is 17 points higher than the mining industry average of 12. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Rio Tinto's stock has gained 56.21% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the mining industry by -3 percentage points.

47.06% of mining stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect mining stocks to rise by 13.06% over the next year.

2.5% of mining stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 5% of mining stocks are rated B (Buy), 37.5% are rated C (Hold), 35% are rated D (Sell), and 20% are rated F (Strong Sell).