Investors tracking gold mining ETF returns had another productive week as the gold price closed at $4,376, up from $4,341 the previous week, having touched an intraday high of around $4,440 before pulling back. The mining sector moved with it, and the three ETFs most UK investors use to gain exposure (GDX, GDXJ and GOEX) have been delivering returns that put the underlying metal itself in the shade.
What the Mining ETFs Have Delivered
The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) posted a one-year return of 67.43% as of 26 August 2026, with a year-to-date gain of 19.41%. Its 52-week price range ran from $60.44 to $117.18, which gives some sense of the volatility involved. In the full calendar year 2025, GDX delivered a total return of 154.71%, against a category average for equity precious metals funds of 161.73%.
GDX currently holds assets under management (AUM, the total value of assets the fund holds on behalf of investors) of $31.98 billion as of 22 August 2026. Its price-to-earnings ratio sits at 15.17, which is not especially stretched by historic mining-sector standards. The top three holdings are Agnico Eagle Mines at 10.85%, Newmont at 10.71%, and Barrick Mining Corp at 7.52%.
The VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) has done even better. Its one-year return reached 77.67% as of 27 August 2026, with net assets of $6.89 billion. According to VanEck’s own fund page, GDXJ tracks the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index, which covers small-capitalisation companies primarily mining for gold and silver. The fund’s 52-week range stretched from $80.06 to $157.49. Its ongoing charge (expense ratio) is 0.52%, and it carries a yield of 2.76%.
The Global X Gold Explorers ETF (GOEX) targets the riskier, earlier-stage end of the sector: companies still in the exploration phase rather than established producers. Its one-year fund NAV return (NAV, or net asset value, is the per-share value of the fund’s underlying holdings) was 55.86% as of 10 August 2026, with a NAV of $84.79. Its beta versus the S&P 500 was 1.82 as of 31 July 2026, meaning it has historically moved roughly 1.8 times as much as the US benchmark in either direction. The annualised standard deviation of 35.30% confirms the ride is considerably bumpier than a broad equity fund.
Gold Mining ETF Returns in Context
The gap between the miners and gold itself matters. When gold rallies, mining companies typically see a magnified effect on earnings because their extraction costs are broadly fixed: a $100 rise in the gold price falls almost entirely to the bottom line. That gearing is what drives the outperformance visible in the return figures above, and it is also what makes miners more painful to hold when gold reverses.
For ISA or SIPP investors considering these funds, a few practical points follow from the data. GDX carries a modest 30-day yield of 0.60 and a P/E of 15.17, positioning it as the large-cap, relatively defensive end of this spectrum. GDXJ’s 2.76% yield is more income-friendly, though the junior miners it holds are smaller and typically carry more balance-sheet risk. GOEX, with its beta of 1.82 and standard deviation above 35%, is a vehicle for investors who want maximum leverage to the gold price and are comfortable with the volatility that implies.
None of these three ETFs is a proxy for physical gold. They are equity funds: operational risk, management quality, currency exposure and individual mine performance all affect returns in ways that the gold spot price does not. The comparison is useful, but treating a mining ETF as a simple substitute for a gold bar or a gold ETC is a category error worth avoiding.
The near-term question is whether gold can consolidate above $4,376 or push back toward the $4,440 intraday high. If it does, history suggests the miners will amplify the move. If it retreats, the same gearing works in the opposite direction, and the 52-week ranges on all three ETFs are a reminder of how wide those swings can be.
