Sprott Gold Miners ETF vs Global X Silver Miners ETF: Which Is the Best Fund to Profit from the Historic Metals Bull Run?

The Sprott Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT:SGDM) offers lower expense ratios and a focus on North American gold producers compared to the Global X-Silver Miners ETF (NYSEMKT:SIL), which concentrates on the silver mining industry.

Investors looking for exposure to precious metals through equity markets may consider these specialized funds. While both provide a way to play rising metals prices, the Sprott Gold Miners ETF and the Global X-Silver Miners ETF target different underlying assets and geographic regions.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns over the available fund history (up to five years). The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield as of the close of trading on Aug. 13.

SGDM is the more affordable choice, featuring a 0.46% expense ratio compared to 0.65% for its silver-focused peer. Both funds offer similar income potential, with only a 0.16 percentage point yield gap between them.

Performance & risk comparison

What's inside

The Sprott Gold Miners ETF focuses on gold-producing companies situated in the United States and Canada. Its portfolio is concentrated in the basic materials sector and contains 48 holdings. Its largest positions include Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) at 8.9%, Barrick Mining Corp (NYSE:B) at 7.9%, and Newmont Corp (NYSE:NEM) at 7.3% . The fund was launched in 2014. The Sprott Gold Miners ETF has paid $0.73 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$73.8 share price works out to a 1% yield.

The Global X-Silver Miners ETF aims to mirror the performance of the Solactive Global Silver Miners Total Return Index, focusing on the basic materials sector. The fund holds 39 securities, and its largest positions include Wheaton Precious Metals Corp (NYSE:WPM) at 22.4%, Pan American Silver Corp (NYSE:PAAS) at 12.5%, and Coeur Mining Corp (NYSE:CDE) at 10.6%. It was launched in 2010. The Global X-Silver Miners ETF has paid $1.02 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$88.7 share price works out to a 1.1% yield.

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Which looks like the better buy?

Each of these funds provides exposure to the precious metals of gold or silver. The two metals have been having one of their best runs in decades. Gold has more than doubled over the past two years as investors have flocked to the yellow metal for its historic inflation-hedging characteristics. Silver has nearly tripled since the start of 2025, partly in tandem with gold and partly due to industrial demand from renewable energy applications. Even with profit-taking clipping the gains in recent weeks, both metals have held on to the majority of their gains since the rally took off at the start of 2024.

Owning a collection of mining stocks, like SGDM, the Sprott Gold Miners ETF and SIL, the Global X Silver Miners ETF, isn't a pure play on the price of gold or silver, but such ETFs track the physical metal prices rather closely. Studies show that the vast majority of the price movement of gold mining stocks is influenced by gold's price.

Broadly speaking, both funds are similar in the amount of assets they dedicate to U.S. stocks, developed market non-U.S. stocks, and emerging market stocks, as well as allocations among large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks.

It is performance where these funds differ. SIL, the silver ETF, has bested SGDM over the past three years, with annualized returns of 40.4% to SGDM's 33.6% returns. The gold miner ETF, however, is better over the 5- and 10-year time frames, with returns of 17.6% and 8.8%, respectively, compared to SIL's 5-year returns of 13.1% and 10-year profits of 5.3% annually.

The historic relationship has always been that gold is superior to silver, both in price per ounce and in importance to investors. While silver does have more industrial uses than gold, expect the historic premium of gold to silver to continue over the long term. Both are good funds, but long-term metals investors should go for the gold with SGDM.

Brendan Coffey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.