According to a release by Ernst & Young reported in Mining Weekly, the mining industry is experiencing significant increase in metal prices.

There is no certainty that the upward trend will continue. Tim Williams of Ernst & Young explains: "Whether the turnaround is sustainable or not is the big debate because a lot of these metal prices have been propped up by the Chinese imports and there is a real debate going on about whether these are sustainable imports or whether the Chinese are buying to stop buying in a few months time. My own view is that they are buying because they know that they are going to need it next year, and because metal stockpiles are a better place for their dollars than the dollar. Metals are a pretty good investment anyway at the moment."

Metal prices scraped bottom in October of 2008 due to market conditions. Several mining companies are currently trading at levels 100 times higher than those levels. The rate of increase has escalated since March. Copper prices, for example, have gone up 76% since the beginning of the year.