"Or his he just reluctant to be in anything you happen to suggest?"

No, because he has been in Gold a few years ago. Now he is invested in some technology growth stocks and believes the recovery has legs.

It is true that I have always been very optimistic regarding the PM mining shares and that too often they either didn't do anything or went down over the last few years.

I guess it is the mindset. Whenever the PM mining stocks were hit, I saw them as becoming even more undervalued, because I tend to focus on the fundamentals and the fact that we are in a l-t bull market. When you are not convinced that these hits down are temporary, they are probably much harder to digest and patience also runs out faster.