GDX vs SLVX

GDXBVanEck Gold Miners ETF

SLVXFNicholas Silver Income 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.

SLVX A rare active swing at the silver mining complex: the prospectus puts capital appreciation first and current income second, with roughly 50 names chosen by a manager instead of copied from an index. Active pricing comes with it.

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.

SLVX The actively managed ETF seeks capital appreciation as its primary objective and current income as its secondary objective.

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.

• SLVX Income is written into the mandate, not bolted on: capital appreciation is the stated primary objective, current income the secondary one, with distributions on a recurring schedule.
• Actively managed, so the roughly 50 holdings reflect a manager's picks rather than a cap-weighted index rulebook. Most funds in this corner track a list.
• Plain 1940 Act ETF wrapper holding materials-sector equities, the same structure the large index-based miners funds use.

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.

• SLVX The 1.16% expense ratio sits well above index rivals in the same theme: RING and SLVP each charge 0.39%. Active stock picking carries that gap.
• A small, thinly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on the category's heavyweights.
• Launched in 2026, so there is little history to judge, and the book stays concentrated in one narrow slice of the materials sector.

Full GDX profile⁠

Full SLVX profile⁠