Happy Tuesday, GoldBuzzers!

Last Tuesday, we dug into the silver mining ETF world and found some potential gems hiding in plain sight.

This week? Same playbook, different metal. Let's talk gold miners.

Ok, let's dive in.

Gold held its ground just under $4,200 on Monday, while silver continues to flirt with the record books around $58 - and frankly, neither metal is doing much of anything dramatic as everyone waits for the main event: the Fed's final 2-day meeting of the year, starting today.

Here's the deal. Markets are pricing in roughly an 88% probability of a 25bps rate cut, which would bring the funds rate down to 3.50%-3.75%. The setup is textbook bullish for precious metals - the dollar index is hovering near a one-month low, lifting gold's appeal for overseas buyers.

But traders aren't making any bold moves ahead of Wednesday's announcement. As Kitco's Jim Wyckoff put it, prices are "not straying too far from unchanged ahead of the FOMC meeting."

The real story? Silver continues to steal the show this year. The white metal has surged roughly 100% year-to-date compared to gold's 60% gain, driven by a perfect storm of tight supply and insatiable industrial demand. The market is on track for its fifth consecutive structural supply deficit, with solar panel demand alone gobbling up record amounts.

Wyckoff noted something fascinating: "Silver is usually a follower of big brother gold, but the past few weeks silver has actually led the gold market." He's targeting $60 and potentially even $70 by year-end.

Meanwhile, China's central bank increased its gold reserves for the 13th consecutive month, bringing holdings to roughly 74.12 million troy ounces.

All eyes on tomorrow's JOLTS report and the Fed decision. Stay tuned, GoldBuzzers. 👀

Last month I covered SIL and SILJ. Last week, 4 other silver mining alternatives. This week, we're completing the set: gold miner ETF alternatives beyond GDX and GDXJ.

Look, there's nothing wrong with the VanEck duo. GDX and GDXJ are up 134% and 144% in 2025 respectively. They're liquid, they're popular, and they do exactly what they say on the tin.

But they've got quirks.

GDX leans heavily on the mega-caps. Newmont, Barrick, and Agnico Eagle alone make up a third of the fund. When those three sneeze, GDX catches a cold. And GDXJ? Despite the "junior" label, it's drifted into mid-cap territory over the years. The truly explosive early-stage plays have largely been squeezed out.

For GoldBuzzers looking to diversify, cut costs, or tilt toward specific factors, here are three alternatives worth knowing about.

A few things jump out. RING beats GDX with nearly triple the number of holdings at a lower cost. SGDM runs a quality filter that's worked well this year. And GOAU? It's lagging - but that's actually the interesting part. More on that in a moment.

iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF
Best for: Broad, low-cost exposure

If GDX is the American muscle car, RING is the well-engineered European sedan. Same destination but a smoother ride!

BlackRock launched RING back in 2012 to track the MSCI ACWI Select Gold Miners Index. That fancy name basically means: large, mid, and small-cap gold miners from everywhere - developed markets, emerging markets, all of it. You get 54 holdings spread across 20+ countries versus GDX's 53 names concentrated in North America.

Why it's interesting:

The expense ratio is 0.39% - twelve basis points cheaper than GDX. That might sound trivial, but over a decade of compounding in a bull market, it adds up. More importantly, RING's broader diversification means you're not as exposed to any single company's operational issues. When a mine floods in Nevada or a permit gets delayed in Ontario, the damage is spread thinner.

This year, RING has returned 141% versus GDX's 134%. That 7-percentage-point gap comes from catching more of the mid-cap rally and having exposure to Australian miners like Northern Star that have been on a tear.

The trade-off:

RING trades about $50 million daily versus GDX's hundreds of millions. Still plenty liquid for most investors, but if you're moving serious size, you'll feel the difference.

Bottom line: If you want GDX with better diversification and lower fees, RING is essentially a plug-and-play upgrade.

Sprott Gold Miners ETF
Best for: North American focus with fundamentals screening

Here's where things get interesting. SGDM doesn't just buy gold miners - it runs them through a filter first.

Sprott tracks the Solactive Gold Miners Custom Factors Index, which screens for three things:

Translation: they're looking for miners that are actually making money, generating cash, and not leveraged to the teeth.

The result is a tighter portfolio - just 36 holdings, 79% Canadian, 18% American. These are the Tier 1 operators with low all-in sustaining costs (currently around $1,200-1,400/oz versus gold at $4,200). When gold's flying, these companies print money.

Why it's interesting:

The quality tilt has paid off in 2025. SGDM's 137% YTD narrowly beats GDX, and with notably lower volatility. The maximum drawdown this year was around 15% versus GDXJ's 22% pullback in the spring correction. For investors who want gold miner upside without the full junior mining rollercoaster, this is the sweet spot.

Institutional money has noticed. SGDM pulled in over $360 million in inflows this year - a sign that the smart money likes the factor approach.

The trade-off:

Fewer holdings means more concentration risk. Agnico Eagle, Alamos, and Evolution Mining together make up nearly a quarter of the fund. And the North American focus means you're missing some of the Australian and African miners that have outperformed this year.

Bottom line: SGDM is GDX with adult supervision - same gold leverage, but with guardrails against the worst-managed operators.

U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF
Best for: Income-focused investors who want streamer exposure

Now for the outlier. GOAU has "only" returned 115% this year - trailing GDX by almost 20 percentage points. So why is it on my radar?

Because sometimes the laggard is the opportunity.

GOAU takes a fundamentally different approach. About 30% of the fund sits in royalty and streaming companies - Franco-Nevada, Wheaton Precious Metals, Royal Gold (see my recent article on Royal Gold). These aren't miners; they're more like gold-backed lenders. They provide capital to mining companies in exchange for a cut of future production at fixed prices.

Why it's interesting:

Streamers generate 90%+ profit margins with no operational headaches - no mine explosions, no labor strikes, no cost inflation. They're essentially gold price exposure with bond-like stability. This year, pure miners outperformed (when gold rockets 61%, you want maximum leverage), which explains GOAU's underperformance.

But here's the thing: GOAU yields about 1.0% versus GDX's 0.7%, and the streamer component dampens volatility significantly. Over the last five years, GOAU has matched GDX on total return with roughly half the drawdowns.

The fund is actively managed with quarterly rebalancing based on fundamentals - EV/EBITDA, production growth, reserve quality. With just 28 holdings, it's a concentrated bet on what U.S. Global considers the best-in-class operators and streamers.

The trade-off:

That 0.60% expense ratio is the highest of the bunch. Liquidity is thin - about $2 million daily versus GDX's ocean of volume. And in a pure gold price melt-up, GOAU will lag the full-beta miners.

Bottom line: GOAU is your portfolio's dividend moat in gold - trading some upside for income and stability. Consider it a complement to GDX rather than a replacement.

In a year where even the "worst" of these gold miner ETFs is up 115%, these are good problems to have! All these funds are printing money right now.

But the bull market is going to have periods of a lot more volatility than we’re experiencing at the moment. If gold corrects 15-20% from here (entirely possible given the vertical move), the quality-screened SGDM and streamer-heavy GOAU should hold up better than pure-beta GDX.

Here's a possible sample allocation for some diversified gold miner exposure:

Your mileage may vary depending on risk tolerance and tax situation. But the key insight is this: even if you don’t like the idea of picking individual gold miners, you don't have to be married to GDX and GDXJ. There are other tools in the shed.

Earnings season is kicking into gear for the miners, and Q3 numbers should be spectacular given gold's run. Margins are the best they've been in years - most producers have all-in sustaining costs around $1,400/oz, and they're selling into a $4,200 spot price. That's a 200% margin expansion from early 2024.

Keep an eye on Wednesday's Fed decision. The 87% probability of a rate cut is already priced in, but the forward guidance will move markets. More dovish? Gold breaks higher. Less dovish? We probably get a buying opportunity.

By the way, if you liked today’s GOAU breakdown, then next Tuesday I'm going deeper on the royalty and streaming model - why these companies print 90% margins while miners sweat over costs. Stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, that’s all for this Tuesday, folks. See you back here on Thursday.

Before you go, please take a moment to rate today’s newsletter and tell us how we did.

Rick Adams
Founder, GoldBuzz
rick@goldbuzz.com