The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that gold and silver are having a good year. Guest columnist Philip MacKellar writes that gold is up 26.8 per cent year-to-date, and silver has increased by 28.2 per cent. Industrial metals such as copper and zinc are also rallying, and these trends are driving mining stocks higher. One company in the mix that does not get a lot of attention is Sprott. For those new to the name, Sprott is not a miner; instead, it is a financial services firm that specializes in managing exchange-traded funds, mutual funds and physical trusts in the mining and metals group. It is an industry leader within this market niche and has a significant assortment of products to meet a variety of investor demands and needs. It also has a small lending business catering to companies in the natural resources sector. The corporation was founded in 1981 by Eric Sprott and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2008. Sprott shares are up 32.8 per cent year-to-date, and the second-quarter results have been buoyed by precious metal trends. Revenues, cash flows and net income were strong. Assets under management hit a record high of $31.1-billion, up from $25.4-billion in the same quarter last year.