Mystified – precious metals ETFs

Hi David,

Looking at prices between the US ETFs and our related stocks is not a perfect science, there can be a fair bit of “chicken & egg” involved, with one leading the other and vice. In other words, if our gold stocks “pop” say 5% in the local day session the US traded ETFs need to match this to at least suggest we will open flat the next day.

However, composition can be the largest impact on relative performance. Firstly, let’s look at the Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM US):

• It holds 16.8% in Cameco, 16.4% in NAC Kazatomprom, and 12.3% in Sprott Physical uranium. The largest ASX positions are 5% in NexGen and 4.7% in Paladin.
• Hence a large move in one of the 3 dominant positions will impact the ETF dramatically but won’t necessarily flow into the ASX names on the following day.

Secondly, let’s take the gold sector:

• The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX US) largest ASX stock is Northern Star (NST) at 4.7%, compared to Barrick (B US) at 5.9%, and dual listed Newmont (NEM) at 6.7%, while Agnico Eagle at 7.7% is the largest – not as skewed as the uranium ETF.
• However, as the chart below illustrates Barrick has soared in recent weeks while gains in NST have been more muted, leading to outperformance by the GDX.

chart

Barrick Mining (B US) v Northern Star Resources (NST)

LAST UPDATED 28/11/2025 12:27

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chart

Barrick Mining (B US) v Northern Star Resources (NST)

LAST UPDATED 28/11/2025 12:27