NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 14:36 ET — Regular session
- Aura Minerals shares fell about 9% in afternoon trade after an early spike.
- Precious metals slid from record highs as traders took profits and the CME raised margin requirements.
- Investors are watching whether the metals pullback extends into year-end, with Fed minutes in focus.
Aura Minerals Inc shares fell 8.9% to $49.26 on Monday afternoon, giving back earlier gains as gold-linked equities sold off with bullion.
The move matters because miners often act like a levered bet on metals: sharp swings in gold and silver can translate quickly into bigger moves in mining stocks. Monday’s drop also comes amid thin year-end liquidity, which can amplify price moves.
Aura’s stock traded in a wide range, touching $54.90 at the session high before sliding to around $49.20 at the low. Volume was about 641,000 shares.
The broader pressure came as precious metals retreated from record levels. Spot gold was down 4.2% by midday after hitting a record $4,549.71 on Friday, Reuters reported.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange raised margin requirements for gold and silver futures in a notice posted Friday, the Associated Press reported. Margin requirements are the cash traders must post with an exchange to hold leveraged futures positions; higher margins can force some traders to cut exposure quickly.
“All the metals moved up to recent and all-time highs. We are seeing profit-taking pullbacks off of those spectacularly high levels,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures, according to Reuters. Reuters
The selloff showed up across the group. Newmont fell 5.7%, Agnico Eagle dropped 6.4% and Kinross slid 5.4%, while the SPDR Gold Shares ETF was down about 4.4%.
Aura is a gold and base-metals miner with operating assets that include the Minosa mine in Honduras; Almas, Apoena, MSG and Borborema in Brazil; and the Aranzazu mine in Mexico, according to a company press release filed with the SEC.
In its most recent company update earlier this month, Aura said it identified development scenarios where annualized gold-equivalent production could exceed 600,000 ounces, up from a prior projection of 450,000. Gold-equivalent ounces, or GEO, are a way miners translate output from different metals into a single gold-based measure.
Aura also cautioned in that filing that references to potential future production levels were preliminary and not intended to be forecasts or guidance.
Reuters also cited market commentary pointing to holiday-thinned trading as a factor behind outsized moves in metals.
Traders are now watching whether the metals pullback deepens and whether higher margin requirements continue to pressure speculative positioning. Reuters said investors are also awaiting the Federal Reserve’s December meeting minutes for clues on the rate path, a key driver for non-yielding assets such as gold.
