While the mining sector is currently the leader of IBD’s 33 sectors, a look at the industry groups that make up the sector reveals a huge contrast.
The mining sector is one of the smaller sectors, with just about 100 names total. (IBD’s stock tables show only the ones that meet certain price and volume criteria.)
Those names fall into two industry groups: the metal ore miners and the miners of gold, silver and gems. The metal ore miners, as a group, have been in a long-term downtrend, occupying a spot in the bottom 20 industry groups for well over a year.