A worker stands in above a stockpile of copper-gold concentrate from Freeport McMoRan Inc.'s Grasberg copper and gold mine at the company's processing facility in the port of Amamapare, Papua province, Indonesia, on Tuesday, April 21, 2015.

Mining stocks led the higher on Tuesday on strong quarterly results and a surge in copper prices.

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan and Newmont Mining popped 14.8 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively, outperforming the rest of the S&P. The two were the top performers in the benchmark during Tuesday trading.

Freeport posted an adjusted profit of 17 cents a share, compared to a loss of 2 cents a share in the year-earlier period. The world's largest publicly traded copper miner also said it was encouraged by talks with the Indonesian government to end a permit dispute at the Grasberg mine.

Grasberg, located in Indonesia, is one of the largest copper mines in the world and the dispute has led to a workers strike that's lasted four months.

Regarding gold producer Newmont, the company's second-quarter results zoomed past Wall Street's estimates as gold production rose 13.3 percent to 1.4 million ounces.

The firm reported adjusted earnings per share of 46 cents, while analysts polled by Reuters expected a profit of 26 cents a share on sales of $1.88 billion. Newmont also said gold all-in sustaining costs, a key metric for the company, decreased by 3 percent to $884 per ounce.

The two stocks also received a boost from a surge in copper prices. Copper futures for September delivery rose 3.42 percent to $2.83 per pound and hit their highest level since May 2015.

—CNBC's Gina Francolla contributed to this report.