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Mining companies are constantly looking for the perfect place to dig. They want sites with plentiful resources close to the surface, in areas where the government likes them and where workers are skilled and cheap. But, increasingly, anywhere with metal in the ground is good enough. If the government is not likely to be sanctioned or taken over by a military junta, even better.
Tip style
Growth
Risk rating
Medium
Timescale
Medium Term
Bull points
- Competition for copper heating up
- Good growth options within existing mine
- New opportunity in north-west Spain
- A rare European supplier of metals
Bear points
- Lower margin than non-European peers
- Uncertainty over permitting
- Project delays
Atalaya Mining (ATYM) ticks a few of these boxes, given its stable jurisdiction and fairly accessible underground metals. Its flagship mine is in the Riotinto district of south-west Spain (the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO) is a former owner) and it is working on building another mine – Touro – in the north-west of Spain, pending government approval.