Metal prices have been white-hot in recent years, as surging emerging markets have increased their demand at an exponential rate. As of May 30, aluminum prices had doubled over the past five years. Copper prices more than quadrupled over the same period. Gold and silver have also risen substantially, used by some investors to help dodge the declining value of the U.S. dollar.

Naturally, companies that mine for these four metals have had a strong wind in their sails since 2003. With that in mind, we'll use the aggregated intelligence of the 105,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to find metals stocks that the community likes -- those with four- and five-star ratings. The community's approval could be a sign that further research is in order.

Here are five such stocks:

Company

Primary Metal

% CAPS All-Star Bulls

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Research

Aluminum Corp. of China (NYSE:ACH)

Aluminum

98.2%

*****

ACH

Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY)

Gold

98.1%

*****

AUY

Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM)

Gold

95.2%

****

AEM

Alcoa (NYSE:AA)

Aluminum

93.9%

****

AA

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

Copper

98.6%

*****

FCX

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of June 2.

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