GDX vs GDXJ

GDXBVanEck Gold Miners ETF

GDXJBVanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF

In short

GDX The original gold miner ETF, running since 2006. Roughly 60 mining companies in one ticker, for people who want equity exposure to gold's economics rather than a bar in a vault.

GDXJ The junior tier of the gold trade. GDXJ tracks an index of small-cap gold and silver miners, about 120 names worldwide, and has done so since 2009. It owns the up-and-comers rather than the household-name majors.

Stated mandate

GDX GDX seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index, which is designed to represent companies involved in gold mining.

GDXJ GDXJ seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index, which represents small-capitalization companies primarily engaged in gold and/or silver mining.

Why people hold it

• GDX Launched in 2006, this is the elder statesman of gold mining funds: a multi-billion-dollar portfolio that is very actively traded, which usually means easy entries and exits.
• Owns the diggers, not the metal. It tracks the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index, roughly 60 companies whose profits swing on the gap between gold prices and mining costs.
• At a 0.51% expense ratio it sits right at the typical price for a precious-metals miner fund, and it grades in the top quartile of its 18-fund peer group.

• GDXJ Small by design: the index covers companies primarily engaged in gold and/or silver mining at the small-capitalization end, roughly 120 of them across global markets.
• Silver rides along. The mandate covers gold and/or silver miners, so the basket is broader precious metals than the name suggests.
• One of the busiest tickets in the junior-miner niche: a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades very actively, which matters when the whole sector moves at once.
• 0.52% a year sits right at the median for precious-metals miner funds, and roughly the same sticker as VanEck's large-cap sibling GDX at 0.51%.

Worth knowing

• GDX Cheaper shelf-mates exist. RING covers global gold miners at 0.39%, so you are paying a bit extra here, largely for scale and trading depth.
• Miner stocks are not bullion. They carry operating costs, debt, labor and country risk on top of the gold price, so moves tend to be sharper in both directions.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually, so this is an equity growth vehicle rather than a steady income line.

• GDXJ Junior miners are the jumpy end of a jumpy sector: smaller companies, fewer mines, and moves that can run far wider than the metal itself.
• Income is not the story here. Distributions land once or twice a year at most.
• Average price, not a bargain. Cheaper miner funds exist in the group, including RING at 0.39%.

Full GDX profile⁠

Full GDXJ profile⁠