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The FTSE 250 index has been chugging along nicely in 2025 compared to recent years. So far, it’s up about 8%, excluding dividends.
However, shares of BlackRock World Mining Trust (LSE:BRWM) have jumped roughly 40% without dividends, leaving the index in the dust.
Here’s why I think this FTSE 250 stock is still worth considering for long-term investors.
Big trend beneficiary
BlackRock World Mining is an investment trust focused on global mining shares. It also invests in royalties from metal and mineral production, as well as having the ability to hold up to 10% in physical metals and 20% in unlisted assets.
Looking at the top of the portfolio, it’s not hard to see what has been driving outperformance recently. There’s Agnico Eagle Mines (a large Canadian gold producer), Kinross Gold, and Newmont Corp (the world’s largest gold mining company).
In the past year, the gold price is up 41%. So these gold miners have been printing money lately.
Elsewhere, Wheaton Precious Metals is heavily exposed to silver as well as gold prices. Silver has also surged 41% in the last 12 months.
This precious metals exposure is not by accident. The managers had 21% of the portfolio in gold miners at the end of 2024, positioning the portfolio to benefit from any surge in gold stocks, which has duly happened.
Needless to say, skyrocketing profits at these miners bodes well for dividends too. The trust’s yield today is still a handy 3.4%, despite the share price increase.
Another big bet
The mining sector is benefiting from the world’s most compelling long-term trends, from digital transformation to gold and precious metals.
BlackRock World Mining.
Beyond gold, the trust is also backing copper as a core theme. As it points out: “the technology and infrastructure crucial to the energy transition is reliant on a core set of metals that includes copper”.
The red metal is essential for electrical wiring, EV motors, grids, and so on. As such, it made up more than a third of the portfolio at the end of 2024, with chunky stakes in major copper producers like Freeport-McMoRan, BHP, Rio Tinto, and Glencore.
Attractive long-term trends
Mining, of course, is a notoriously cyclical sector. Share prices can swing wildly, and developments in China (the world’s biggest consumer of metals) often play a massive part one way or the other.
Picking the right mining shares at the right time can be challenging. That’s why I hold BlackRock World Mining Trust in my own portfolio. It offers me professional management, steady dividends, and appealing long-term themes (such as the global energy transition).
Looking ahead to the next few years, I don’t think gold bull run is over. Central banks are buying more bullion to cut reliance on the US dollar. Geopolitical tensions are high, as is inflation and government debt. All should support steady demand for the yellow metal, even though another 41% rise in a single year is unlikely.
More broadly, spent mines are not being replaced quickly enough worldwide. This dynamic should create a supply-demand imbalance as long-term demand for copper and other metals rises.
Right now, investors can pick up shares at an 8.2% discount to net asset value, which I think is an attractive option to consider.
