Even after yesterday’s rally, the UK mining sector is in a hole. A deep hole.

It has suffered a savage de-rating in the past couple of months, going from stock market darling to pariah. The Datastream UK mining index has fallen 30 per cent since the start of July and over the past couple of weeks the selling has accelerated. Halfway through September and the mining sector has already witnessed its sharpest monthly decline since 1997, according to Cazenove.