Ultimately the rise is due to the price of gold. Much like an oil producer or natural gas producer, they're going to be strongly correlated to the underlying price of the commodity they rely on.
It makes complete sense in this regard as well. If operations can stay steady, which they likely will at AEM because it is a top tier producer, higher gold = higher cash flows, as long as currency fluctuations don't impact them too much, which as of right now the CAD/USD has remained relatively steady.
I've thrown in a chart that compares AEM's returns to the price of gold, and you will very likely see what I am saying. Ultimately, a rising price of gold will equal a rising share price in AEM, unless it were to report earnings that are way out of line.
That said, there are a lot of bullish scenarios for gold right now, so I could easily see Agnico continue to rise.
