Top regions where mining investors plan to splash the cash

With the mining industry in bullish mood, supported by strong gold and copper prices, more than four in 10 investors plan to allocate more cash to the sector in 2026 than last year – and those focused on South America and the US are particularly positive, according to new research by Mining IQ.

The Investor Sentiment Insights 2026 report (available here) showed 41.7% of investors plan to invest more in the sector than they did last year, with a further 47.9% expecting to invest about the same. Just 10.4% said they would invest less.

The findings are based on the Investor Sentiment Survey, completed by 125 resources investors at the end of 2025. Participants managed aggregate mining assets worth an estimated US$6.8 billion. 

The positive outlook follows rising investments in mining last year, when more than half (51.4%) of respondents said they had allocated more to mining than in 2024, and mining's strong performance in 2025, when 83.8% of respondents said performance had been better or in line with expectations.

Investor Sentiment Insights reveals trends on mining investment performance, M&A expectations, top target commodities and regions and how ESG considerations will influence investment decisions in mining.

South America-focused investors most bullish

South America-focused investors were significantly more bullish on 2026 spending plans, with nearly half (48.8%) expecting to allocate more to mining stocks than last year, while just 7.3% planned to invest less.

(Investors' region of focus was defined as the region in which mining equities in their portfolios were mainly operating in 2025; respondents were able to select more than one region.)

US-focused were the second most bullish on investment plans for 2026, with 47.1% planning to invest more, 41.2% about the same, and 11.8% less, perhaps in part reflecting a more positive outlook for mining in the country, following measures announced by President Donald Trump aimed at speeding up permitting and supporting domestic production.

Africa-focused respondents were the third most bullish group, with 45.7% planning to invest more, 42.9% about the same and 11.4% less.

Least bullish

Australia-focused respondents were among the least bullish, with 38.5% planning to invest more, but the group was among the most likely to expect investment volumes to remain about the same (53.8%) and the second least likely to expect investment volumes to fall (7.7%), after the South America-focused group.

Investors focused on other regions – Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Mexico/Central America/Caribbean – were the least likely to forecast rising investment volumes (37.8%), but the most likely to expect stable investment (54.1%).

Among all respondents, institutional investors were more likely to plan higher investment volumes in mining for 2026, at 47.4%, compared with 40.3% among retail investors.

Canada, Australia top targets

While South America-focused investors were the most bullish about spending plans for 2026, Australia and Canada were the top target regions for investment in 2026, each selected by 51.0% of all investors (respondents could choose more than one option).

While South America was third, picked by 42.7%, the figure was up sharply from 29.1% in the previous year's survey, conducted in late 2024, which asked respondents about key investment target regions for 2025.

Investor Sentiment Insights 2026 is available here. The report is available for purchase and is free for Premium subscribers. A free excerpt is also available.

By Sam Williams

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