December 31, 2025
Commentary
On September 2, 2025 Ninepoint Partners change the investment objective of Ninepoint Resource Fund (the Fund) to primarily focus the Fund’s investments on global equity and equity-related securities of companies that are involved directly or indirectly in the metals and mining sector. Corresponding with the IO Change, the name of the Fund was changed from the Ninepoint Resource Fund to the Ninepoint Mining Evolution Fund.
In 2025, the Fund remained its focus on metals essential to energy transition, AI infrastructure, and national security—themes that provided a different set of opportunities compared to traditional energy sectors this year. For the full year, the Fund delivered a total return of 80.29%, compared to the benchmark’s 87.07%. In Q4, the Fund gained 7.12%, compared to the benchmark return of 14.23%.
NINEPOINT MINING EVOLUTION FUND - COMPOUNDED RETURNS¹ AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2025 (SERIES F NPP864) | INCEPTION DATE: OCTOBER 18, 2011
1M |
YTD |
3M |
6M |
1YR |
3YR |
5YR |
10YR |
INCEPTION |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FUND |
6.42% |
80.29% |
7.12% |
44.09% |
80.29% |
15.71% |
14.05% |
12.76% |
3.68% |
INDEX |
6.14% |
87.07% |
14.23% |
56.25% |
87.07% |
27.04% |
19.26% |
20.80% |
7.54% |
As of December 31, 2025 the Fund’s commodity mix was dominated by gold equities (40.5% vs the index at 41.9%) and uranium (17.1% vs the index at 5.4%). In addition, the Fund equity holdings included exposure to copper (18%), rare earths (4.5%) and silver (3.6%), with the remainder in various other industrial metals. The commodity mix remained relatively consistent throughout the year.
In the gold sector, commodity performance was supported by steady safe-haven demand from Western investors as well as persistent and constant Central Bank physical purchases. Central Banks remained consistent accumulators throughout the year and stepped up in Q4, appearing to prioritize reserve diversification over price sensitivity.
As a result of our long-term positive outlook for growth in nuclear power, the Fund maintained its overweight position in uranium equities. While uranium price remained volatile in H2 2025, the long-term growth story for nuclear remains firmly in place as more than 20 countries signed a declaration to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050, recognizing nuclear power as a critical component of their net-zero emission strategies. In addition, the expectation of rising demand from AI data centers has created additional interest in nuclear power as a reliable, carbon-free energy source. While nuclear power is currently a relatively small portion of total data center energy consumption, the market has embraced its strategic importance, lending support for uranium equities.
Copper also had a positive quarter, influenced by tightening mine supply and trade policy uncertainty. Following a strong H1, copper prices continued their ascent in H2 2025 with LME prices peaking in December at an all-time-high of $US12,960/t. Uncertainty related to tariffs and the continuing build-up of inventories on the COMEX persisted, while the meaningful disruption at Freeport’s Grasberg mine, one of many supply disruptions this year, sent copper prices into a new, higher trading range. The fund’s position in copper includes a combination of producers, developers and explorers.
The fund has continued to invest in a variety of critical minerals, including rare earths. With China continuing to dominate both mining and refining in the rare earths market, these critical minerals continue to be a geopolitical battleground and front-page news. Rare Earth prices remained volatile and driven by geopolitics as the market digested China’s tariffs and export controls, and the west begins to position its supply chain independence.
At the individual security level, our top contributors for the quarter included copper developer Arizona Sonoran and gold producer G Mining Ventures.
Conversely, underperformers during Q4 2025 included uranium explorer Canalaska and Lynas Rare Earths, the biggest Western producer of rare earths. The underperformance in Q4 2025 was largely driven by commodity price volatility.
2026 Outlook and Investment Strategy
We continue to believe the general metals and mining space is moving into a decade-plus bull cycle, with the primary drivers for the sector shifted to themes like national security, technological advances, and environmental policy. In the Fund, we continue to focus on high-quality names across the metals complex to provide our investors with diversified exposure to this evolving landscape.
Nawojka Wachowiak, M.Sc., CIM
Ninepoint Partners