Shares in Atalaya Mining Copper (LON: ATYM) rose 2.6% on Monday, July 20, 2026, after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “sector perform” and lifted its price target to 1,100p from 1,000p.
The stock traded up around 20.5p to 817.5p following the note.
The upgrade was driven by two factors: a strong second-quarter operational update and a marked improvement in the political outlook for Atalaya’s Touro copper project in Spain’s Galicia region.
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Despite a weak start to the year caused by heavy rainfall, the company posted solid production and cost control in Q2, while an equity raise in January helped net cash swell to €340m — comfortably above RBC’s €320m capex estimate for Touro.
RBC believes Atalaya can maintain positive net cash through peak capital expenditure in 2027 even if copper prices fall 20%.
On the political front, RBC pointed to Galicia’s High Court voiding a 2020 negative environmental ruling, supportive statements from regional Xunta officials, and signs that the environmental impact declaration (DIA) is being prepared. RBC’s base case now assumes the permit arrives in Q3 2026, ahead of regional elections in May 2027.
RBC also flagged compelling valuation: Atalaya has underperformed the FTSE 350 Metals & Mining index by 20% year-to-date and trades at a steep discount to peers — 0.4x price-to-NAV and 3.1x 2026 EV/EBITDA versus intermediate copper miners’ 0.7x and 5.5x, respectively — prompting the broker to raise its NAV multiple and Touro risking assumption to 50% from 30%.
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