GDX: Winners and Laggards The GDX ETF is the leading gold miners ETF with more than 50 holdings. It's up 16% over the past 12 months. But the performance of the components of the GDX has been very mixed. There are some big winners and some very big losers. Let's take a look at some of the star performers and the dogs of the past year..
By far the best performer is Compañía de Minas Buenaventura (BVN), whose share price has risen by more than 150% over the past 12 months. BVN is a traditional Peruvian mining company that mines copper as well as precious metals. As a result, BVN has benefited greatly from the record rally in both gold and copper. https://x.com/minenergybiz/status/1794632555725021186
The No. 2 best performer is Harmony Gold out of South Africa. Harmony's share price is up nearly 100% over the past year. Harmony also has interests in some large copper projects https://x.com/minenergybiz/status/1794633265971658790
In 3rd place is Fortuna Silver Mines (FSM), whose name is a bit confusing as FSM is primarily a gold producer. FSM's share price is up 87% over the last 12 months, which is great. It also has one of the best looking charts in the mining industry. FSM operates precious metal mines in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mexico and Peru
Now to the big underperformer, which are struggling even with record high gold prices.. The third worst performer is B2Gold, down 28% over the past year. B2Gold was hit by a capital expenditure blowout at a large gold project in Canada and by unrest in Mali, where the company's largest and most important mine (Fekola) is located https://x.com/minenergybiz/status/1794635396854272144
Barrick Gold is not the second worst performer, but because of its very large weight (>8% of GDX), its weak performance has had a huge impact on the price of the GDX. Barrick Gold shares are down 3% over the past 12 months, which has weighed on the GDX. Barrick is struggling with declining production, rising costs and an underperforming U.S. business https://x.com/minenergybiz/status/1794637799477367294
The same goes for Franco-Nevada, whose weight in the GDX is nearly 7%. Franco shares are down 17% over the past 12 months despite record high gold prices. Franco has been hit by the shutdown of First Quantum Minerals' huge Cobre Panama mine (3rd biggest copper mine in the world), in which Franco has a large interest https://x.com/minenergybiz/status/1794638426915864876
By far the worst performing GDX holding was SSR Mining, down 64% over the past 12 months. SSR had the worst accident in its history. On February 13, 2024, a mass of heap leach material collapsed at SSR's Çöpler gold mine in the Erzincan province of eastern Turkey, trapping a group of nine miners as it slid toward a stream. A very sad story and major mining tragedy..
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