Almost everything we use in modern society contains large amounts of raw materials. And they can’t be mined fast enough to keep pace with demand, especially from emerging markets. Lundin Mining Corp. (NYSE:LMC) is a strong Canadian mining company, with no debt and world-class assets. And it is a steal at today’s beaten down prices.

The base metals had a mixed day Thursday as copper, nickel, and aluminum were down on the day, while zinc and lead both rose.

Copper traded up and down in throughout the day before settling at $3.7114/lb., down 3 ¼ cents. Zinc surged during the predawn hours, hitting an intraday high of $0.89/lb before sliding a little during the remaining trading hours. The metal finished up almost 1½ cents, at $0.8558/lb.

Nickel prices saw little change for most of the day until late morning, when the metal suddenly plummeted more than $0.20/lb. Nickel recovered somewhat in late trading, however, to finish down 12½ cents, at $8.2198/lb. Aluminum’s exhibited wide swings in prices before closing $1.3211/lb., down almost ¾ cents. Lead rose for…