Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM) vs Gold Miners ETFs

The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (ticker URNM) held 30 stocks and charged an annual fee of 0.75% in mid-October 2026, with about US$1.78 billion in assets and 81.23% of the fund in its ten largest holdings (StockAnalysis fund data, checked 15 October 2026). Among gold miners funds, iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING) charged 0.39% on US$2.23 billion, while VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) held 63 stocks and VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) held 160. This page puts six funds side by side with the same measures, dated 14 or 15 October 2026. It gives facts only and is not investment advice.

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a fund whose shares trade on a stock exchange like a company share. A miners ETF owns shares of mining companies, so its value rises and falls with those shares, not with the metal alone. The US Securities and Exchange Commission explains that an ETF’s market price can sit above or below the net asset value (NAV, the value of its holdings per share), which is called a premium or a discount (Investor.gov bulletin on ETFs).

How we chose and compared these funds

We picked three uranium miners funds and three gold miners funds, each with a page we opened on the issuer’s or a fund-data site. The uranium funds are ranked by expense ratio, lowest first, because the fee is the one cost you can compare before you buy; the gold funds are listed by number of holdings. The expense ratio is the yearly fee taken from the fund’s assets, shown as a percentage. For each fund we also show assets, the number of holdings, the share of the fund held in the ten largest holdings, and the index it follows.

Three limits apply. First, fund figures change daily, so every number carries its date. Second, the URNM and URNJ figures come from the fund-data site StockAnalysis and the URA figures from Global X, so each is dated. Third, a low fee does not make a fund better. A fund that holds very different companies will behave differently whatever it costs.

Related reading on this site: our comparison of physical gold funds is in Best Gold ETFs and Platinum Stocks: Fees, Size, Output, and the price data behind uranium is explained in Uranium Spot Price: UxC, TradeTech and Spot vs Term.

Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM): fees, holdings and what it owns

URNM started trading on 3 December 2019. StockAnalysis lists the index it follows as the VettaFi Global Uranium Miners Index and shows an expense ratio of 0.75%, assets of US$1.78 billion and 30 holdings (StockAnalysis URNM holdings, 14 October 2026).

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URNM largest eight holdings by weight

% of fund assets, 14 October 2026

The fund is concentrated. The top ten holdings made up 81.23% of assets on 14 October 2026, and the top three alone made up 50.89%.

The second-largest holding is not a miner. The Sprott Physical Uranium Trust is a publicly traded trust that holds physical uranium (U₃O₈, often called yellowcake) in storage and tracks the spot price through its net asset value (CarbonCredits uranium price page). Yellow Cake PLC (ticker YCA.L on StockAnalysis) was the sixth-largest holding at 4.60%.

Weights move quickly as share prices change, so treat any weight as a dated reading, not a fixed allocation.

Fund focus: uranium miners plus a physical-uranium trust inside one fund. Pros: pure uranium focus; includes producers and developers across Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia and the United States. Cons: 0.75% fee is higher than URA; heavy weight in three names; price swings are large.

Uranium miners ETFs compared: URNM, URNJ and URA

Three US-listed funds cover uranium. Global X Uranium ETF (URA) is the largest, with US$5.00 billion in assets, 60 holdings and a 0.69% total expense ratio on 14 October 2026 (Global X URA fund page). It began trading on 4 November 2010. Its investment objective changed in 2018, and its index today is the Solactive Global Uranium & Nuclear Components Total Return Index, so it holds nuclear component makers as well as miners. Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF (URNJ) charged 0.80% on US$296.85 million and 47 holdings, and follows the Nasdaq Sprott Junior Uranium Miners Index (StockAnalysis URNJ page, checked 15 October 2026).

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Same three names, different weights

% of fund assets, 14 October 2026

1. Global X Uranium ETF (URA)

Fund focus: the widest uranium basket, including nuclear component companies. Facts: Cameco 23.15%, Sprott Physical Uranium Trust 7.44% and NexGen 5.92% were the top three on 14 October 2026. Global X reports a one-year NAV return of -12.58% and a three-year annualised return of 18.84% to 30 September 2026, and notes that past performance does not guarantee future results. Pros: lowest fee of the three; largest by assets; 60 holdings spread the risk. Cons: part of the fund is not a uranium miner at all, so it follows nuclear sentiment as well as the uranium price.

2. Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM)

Fund focus: a narrower uranium-only basket. Pros: narrow mandate; physical uranium vehicles inside the fund. Cons: 30 holdings and an 81.23% top-ten weight mean a few companies decide the result.

3. Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF (URNJ)

Fund focus: smaller and mid-sized uranium names. Facts: the largest holdings were NexGen Energy 14.33%, Denison Mines 11.32%, Paladin Energy 10.84% and Energy Fuels 10.05%. Pros: Cameco is not among its largest holdings, so it overlaps less with URNM and URA. Cons: highest fee of the three; smallest in assets (US$296.85 million).

The chart below shows how differently two of these funds weigh the same three names.

Gold miners ETFs compared: GDX, GDXJ and RING

Gold miners funds hold company shares, not bars. iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING) follows the MSCI ACWI Select Gold Miners IMI Index and states an expense ratio of 0.39% with US$2.23 billion in net assets and 40 holdings (iShares RING page, 14 October 2026). VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) and VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) are the two VanEck funds in the comparison; their holdings come from StockAnalysis on 14 October 2026, and their current fees and assets are on VanEck’s fund pages. GDXJ covers smaller-capitalisation gold and silver miners.

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GDX largest holdings by weight

% of fund assets, 14 October 2026

Holdings counts and weights for GDX and GDXJ come from StockAnalysis on 14 October 2026 (GDX holdings, GDXJ holdings).

1. iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING)

Fund focus: gold miners worldwide, at the lowest fee of the three. Facts: 52-week NAV range of US$58.55 to US$98.98 and a three-year standard deviation of 40.80%, both from iShares (standard deviation measures how widely returns swing). Pros: lowest fee; 40 holdings. Cons: smallest of the three by assets; wide swings in value.

2. VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX)

Fund focus: larger gold miners and royalty firms. Facts: Agnico Eagle Mines 11.21%, Newmont 11.17%, Barrick Mining 7.94%, Wheaton Precious Metals 5.67% and Franco-Nevada 5.24% led the 63 holdings. Wheaton and Franco-Nevada are royalty and streaming companies: they pay up front for a share of a mine’s metal, so they carry less operating cost than a miner. Pros: holds both large miners and royalty firms. Cons: top ten holdings are 59.26% of the fund.

3. VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ)

Fund focus: mid-sized and smaller producers across many companies. Facts: 160 holdings, with the top ten at 40.73%; Alamos Gold 6.54%, Coeur Mining 6.32%, Equinox Gold 5.90% and Endeavour Mining 5.55% led. Pros: broadest spread; little overlap with the biggest names. Cons: some holdings are silver producers such as Hecla Mining and First Majestic Silver, so it is not a pure gold fund.

▶ Follows a gold nugget from rock to ring, showing how gold is mined and refined. · 5:27

What moves each fund: uranium contracts versus the gold price

Uranium is sold mostly on long-term contracts, with a smaller spot market beside them. Cameco publishes month-end averages of the prices reported by UxC and TradeTech. At the end of September 2026 the long-term price stood at US$96.50 per pound of U₃O₈ and the spot price at US$89.63 (Cameco uranium price page). TradeTech’s own long-term indicator stayed at US$97.00 for four consecutive months, to its 2 October 2026 release (TradeTech press releases). The spot price touched US$100.25 on 28 January 2026 in the same release list, then eased. Since January 2026 the long-term price rose from US$89.00 to US$96.50, while spot fell from US$94.28 to US$89.63 (Cameco month-end figures). Producers with long-term contracts sell part of their output at the contract price.

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Uranium prices, month-end

US$ per pound U3O8, 2026

The company side shows what a uranium holding delivers in tonnes. Cameco’s outlook for 2026 is 19.5 to 21.5 million pounds of U₃O₈ on its share, with Cigar Lake at 17.5 to 18 million pounds and McArthur River/Key Lake at 14 to 16.5 million pounds on a 100% basis (Cameco second-quarter MD&A, current to 30 July 2026). The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission licensed NexGen’s Rook I mine and mill for site preparation and construction on 5 March 2026, valid to 31 March 2036; the licence does not authorise operation, which needs a separate future decision (CNSC news release). NexGen was 12.81% of URNM and 14.33% of URNJ, so one development project sits behind a large part of both funds.

Gold miners respond to the gold price and to each company’s costs. A miner’s profit is the gap between the gold price and its cost per ounce, so a modest move in gold can move profit by much more. That is why miners funds can swing harder than the metal, and why RING’s three-year standard deviation of 40.80% is high. Uranium miners add a second driver: nuclear policy and reactor orders.

▶ Explains uranium in Africa through the known deposit at Kanyemba in Zimbabwe. · 4:27

Miners fund or physical metal fund

A miners fund and a bullion fund are different products. A physical gold fund owns bars and follows the gold price less a small fee. In our comparison of physical gold funds, SPDR Gold MiniShares charges 0.10%, iShares Gold Trust 0.25% and SPDR Gold Shares 0.40% (see our gold ETF fee comparison). The World Gold Council reports that global physically backed gold ETFs took in US$10 billion in September 2026, for a record US$31 billion in the third quarter, and that their holdings reached a record 4,256 tonnes, with assets of US$574 billion (World Gold Council, 7 October 2026). Those flows went into bullion funds, not miners funds.

For uranium the closest bullion-like product is the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust, which is also held inside URNM and URA. See our uranium price guide for how spot and term prices are set. If you also want silver miners, the funds are covered in our silver mining stocks and ETFs comparison.

What an ETF fee costs over time

The yearly fee comes out of the fund’s assets, so you pay it whether the fund rises or falls. On US$10,000 held for 10 years with no price change, a 0.75% fee takes US$750 and a 0.39% fee takes US$390. The difference is US$360, or 3.6% of the amount invested. Real returns will differ, and trading costs and tax come on top. The calculator below lets you enter your own amount, fee, comparison fee and years.

Risks and checks before you buy

• Concentration. URNM had 81.23% in its ten largest holdings and 50.89% in three. GDX had 59.26% in ten. Concentrated funds move with a few companies.
• Premium or discount. An ETF’s price can differ from its NAV. iShares showed RING at a 0.29% discount to NAV on 14 October 2026; check the figure on the day you trade (Investor.gov).
• Overlap. Cameco is the top holding in both URNM and URA. NexGen sits in all three uranium funds. Buying two funds can double a position.
• Not only miners. URNM and URA hold physical-uranium vehicles; URA also holds nuclear component firms; GDX holds royalty companies; GDXJ holds silver miners.
• Fee waivers. VanEck’s pages say the adviser has agreed to waive fees to cap expenses and may end the limit. Check the footnote on the fund page.
• Mine and country risk. Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia and the United States each carry different permits, tax and supply risks.
• Currency. Several holdings trade in Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, pounds, South African rand or Hong Kong dollars, so exchange rates feed into the US dollar value.

Not investment advice. This page gives dated facts, no price targets and no recommendation to buy or sell any fund.

How satellite screening fits miners research

Funds own companies, and companies own ground. Before a project becomes a mine it is an exploration target, and the first screening of a licence area can be done from space. Farmonaut offers satellite mineral detection that maps likely mineral zones inside a licence boundary as exploration targets, ahead of any resource estimate. It is a tool for licence holders and consultants, not a way to value a fund. You can send a licence area for a quote.

▶ Explains what satellites can and cannot see when screening ground for gold. · 2:00

Frequently asked questions

What is the Sprott Uranium Miners ETF?

It is an ETF with ticker URNM that began trading on 3 December 2019 and holds shares of uranium miners and vehicles that hold physical uranium. It listed 30 holdings and a 0.75% expense ratio in mid-October 2026 (StockAnalysis, 15 October 2026).

What does URNM hold?

Its largest holdings on 14 October 2026 were Cameco (21.50%), the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (16.58%), NexGen Energy (12.81%), Kazatomprom (5.16%) and CGN Mining (5.09%).

What is the URNM expense ratio?

0.75% a year, or US$75 on every US$10,000 invested, according to StockAnalysis on 15 October 2026. Compare that with 0.69% for URA and 0.80% for URNJ.

Is URNM or URA bigger?

URA had US$5.00 billion in assets and URNM about US$1.78 billion in mid-October 2026, according to Global X and StockAnalysis.

What is the difference between URNM and URNJ?

URNM holds larger uranium companies and physical-uranium vehicles. URNJ, the Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF, follows smaller names, had 47 holdings and charged 0.80% on 15 October 2026.

Which is the best gold miners ETF?

There is no single best fund; it depends on what you value. RING states a 0.39% fee, GDX holds 63 companies and GDXJ holds 160. This is information, not advice.

What is the difference between GDX and GDXJ?

GDX follows larger gold miners and royalty firms, with 63 holdings. GDXJ follows smaller companies, with 160 holdings. Holdings counts are from StockAnalysis, 14 October 2026.

Do uranium and gold miners ETFs hold the metal?

Mostly no. They hold company shares. The exceptions are physical-uranium vehicles such as the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust, which sit inside URNM and URA.

Why does a miners ETF move more than the metal price?

A miner’s profit is the gap between the metal price and its costs, so a small price change can move profit by a larger share. iShares reports a three-year standard deviation of 40.80% for RING.

How much of URNM is held in its top ten holdings?

81.23% on 14 October 2026, against 59.26% for GDX and 40.73% for GDXJ (StockAnalysis).

Where can I check current holdings and fees?

On each issuer’s fund page: Sprott for URNM and URNJ, Global X for URA, VanEck for GDX and GDXJ and iShares for RING. Fees and weights change, so use the date on the page.