The Options Market's Top 9 Mining Stock Picks

Silver and gold futures' steady rise saw a dramatic spike this week, in advance of this year's G20 summit in Seoul. Even before the meeting of global heavyweights got underway, it was widely assumed that the currency crisis would be among the predominant themes.

Exporter countries like China and Germany have already expressed their dissatisfaction with the Fed's decision to pump another round of quantitative easing into U.S. markets, fearing the effects of a further devalued dollar. Also sure to be on the agenda is the increasing concern over European debt defaults from beleaguered economies like Ireland and Greece.

All of this uncertainty makes traders nervous, prompting an exodus toward "safety" -- and precious metals are widely considered a market haven in uncertain times.

With the recent run-up on metal futures, investors have taken a shine to mining stocks -- but how long can the rally last? Perhaps not much longer. Blogger Connie Madon argues that "the gold rally is a textbook example of the way bull rallies work," in that it's only rising on a shortage of sellers.

"No one is willing to step up to the plate and take a short position," and "only a few sellers are taking profits after the sharp run up." But many expect that investors are about to start cashing out. And continued weak demand from India, the world's largest consumer of gold, could deliver a harsh blow to the record-breaking rally.

There's no clear analyst consensus as to when silver and gold will top -- but what we want to know is, which metals stocks are looking to see continued upside?

To find out, we had a look at what options traders are thinking, and tracked down the nine mining stocks with the highest ratio of calls to puts. When call option contracts greatly outnumber the put option contracts on a stock, it indicates bullish sentiment in the options market. If you're planning a portfolio heavy on metals, check out this list. (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these investing ideas.)

Options data sourced from Schaeffer's. The list has been sorted by the put/call ratio.

Interactive Chart: Press Play to see how the market caps of these stocks have changed over the past two years.

Kapitall's Eben Esterhuizen and Alicia Sellitti do not own shares of any companies mentioned.