Sprott is adding another tool to its commodity toolkit with the launch of the Sprott Active Metals & Miners ETF, ticker METL, on Nasdaq.
The actively managed fund aims to deliver long-term capital appreciation by investing across the metals and mining value chain, including producers, developers, recyclers, and royalty and streaming companies.
Sprott is pitching METL as a way to capture a broader slice of the resource story at a moment when bullion hovers near historic peaks and investors are again probing the sector for diversification and cyclical upside.
The strategy leans into Sprott’s long-standing specialty in natural resources. The portfolio marries top-down views on supply and demand with bottom-up stock selection that targets undervalued names and turnaround candidates.
Management highlights the dispersion of outcomes in mining equities as a reason to go active rather than passive, arguing that technical due diligence and company access can help separate durable operators from serial capital destroyers.
METL’s net expense ratio is 0.89 percent, consistent with other specialist active funds from the firm. As of Sept. 10, the ETF reported roughly 100,000 shares outstanding, total net assets near 2 million dollars, and 34 holdings.
The launch widens Sprott’s lineup beyond single-commodity sleeves like uranium and copper to an all-metals approach that can tilt where management sees the best risk-reward.
Early positioning spans uranium, copper, steel, silver, rare earths and lithium, alongside familiar miner and royalty names across North America, Australia and Latin America.
The firm’s investor presentation lists a team led by Senior Portfolio Manager and economic geologist Justin Tolman with senior portfolio managers Maria Smirnova and Shree Kargutkar. The group emphasizes regular management meetings and field work as inputs to position sizing and risk controls.
Gold has been setting or approaching nominal records this month as traders price in easier monetary policy and geopolitical risk remains elevated. Precious-metals equity funds have seen renewed flows, but performance across miners has been uneven, leaving room for active managers to lean into balance-sheet discipline, project quality and cost curves.
METL’s mandate gives it leeway to rotate among subsectors as commodity cycles evolve and supply bottlenecks shift from one material to another.
An active basket can diversify company-specific risk that comes with single-asset miners while still providing torque to commodity upswings.
A multi-metal remit can capture themes that are playing out on different clocks. Uranium has benefited from a revived nuclear buildout and life-extension programs.
Copper remains central to grid buildouts and data center power demand. Rare earths and lithium add optionality tied to defense, electrification and storage. None of these markets move in lockstep, and an active approach can adjust to changing economics and policy incentives.
Mining equities are volatile, operational risks are real, and commodity prices can swing on macro data, trade policy and currency moves.
Sprott can point to a track record managing sector-specific products and research depth in resources, but investors should expect tracking error versus broad equity benchmarks and prepare for drawdowns that can exceed the underlying metal’s moves.
Sprott’s chief executive, Whitney George, framed the case for the new product this week. In a press release, he said, Sprott is well positioned to create a dynamic portfolio of the miners of essential materials that span copper, uranium, silver, steel, lithium and many other metals that are critical for energy independence, national security and growth industries.
If this cycle continues to reward the building blocks of power, infrastructure and security, an all-metals, actively run ETF may find an audience alongside bullion and single-metal exposures.
