The miners and metals ETFs that returned most
See 6 funds ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, one year. Updated Oct 20, 2026. Funds on one theme can hold different companies, so the gap from top to bottom of this list reflects what they own, not the theme.
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Points (pts) are percentage points.
| # | Ticker | Fund | Total return, 1Y ↓ | vs its benchmark 1Y | Weight in S&P 500 companies | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SLX | VanEck Steel ETF | +37.2% | +22.1 pts vs ACWI | 12.6% | 0.55% |
| 2 | PICK | iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Prod | +27.9% | +12.8 pts vs ACWI | 12.4% | 0.39% |
| 3 | GOAU | US Global GO Gold and Precious Metal Min | +2.2% | not measured | 2.8% | 0.60% |
| 4 | METL | Sprott Active Metals & Miners ETF | +0.1% | −15.7 pts vs VOO | 14.2% | 0.99% |
| 5 | XME | State Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ET | −6.2% | −22.0 pts vs IVV | 21.5% | 0.35% |
| 6 | NIKL | Sprott Nickel Miners ETF | −24.4% | −40.3 pts vs VOO | 0.0% | 0.75% |
Method
The 6 of 6 ETFs in the miners and metals theme with a full year of trading, highest first, each over the same year to Oct 20, 2026 with distributions reinvested. Across the funds listed here the one year total return runs from -24.4% to 37.2%.
The rest of the method
A year says what happened, not what happens next. The list sorts one published figure, with no scoring or weighting. Every fund ETFIQ covers in this category is eligible, closed funds included.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A ranking is not a recommendation or an opinion.
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ETFIQ, The miners and metals ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-miners
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). The miners and metals ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-miners
[The miners and metals ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-miners)
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