Don't Forget About This Gold Miners ETF

In case you didn't get the memo, after months of underperformance relative to spot gold prices, ETFs that track gold miners are finally starting to act right. In recent weeks, perhaps the worst thing that can be said of these ETFs is that they are performing “less bad” than the broader market and in a display of their underlying strength, some of these ETFs even rise slightly on wicked down days for the broader market.

And as we are seeing today, gold miner ETFs also outperform on up days. That's only part of the good news. The other part is the discussion on gold miner ETFs does not begin and end with the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ).

Simply put, now is not the time to be ignoring the Global X Pure Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GGGG). “Quad G” flies under the radar because GDX has almost $8.7 billion in assets under management, dominating the large-cap mining ETF space. GDXJ is no slouch with almost $2.5 billion in AUM, but there is room in this niche for GGGG to thrive.

GGGG, which made its debut in March and is home to 30 stocks with nearly $3.9 million in AUM, is just starting to perk up. Up nearly 5% in the past week, GGGG's gains have been made on above average volume, perhaps indicating investors are finally starting to take a look at this unheralded mining ETF.

While GGGG isn't the most well-known mining ETF that doesn't mean it's speculative. Canada, South Africa, the U.S. and Australia account for roughly 72% of the new ETF's country weights and that diversity actually trumps its more popular rivals while offering the same conservative geographic posture. In other words, it's a good idea to embrace mining ETFs with North America and Australia exposure and GGGG offers plenty of that.

Investors can also rest easy knowing major gold miners such as El Dorado (NYSE: EG), Kinross (NYSE: KGC) and Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) are found among GGGG's top-10 holdings.

With no signs that gold's run is going to end in the near-term, GGGG is offering some value here as it remains a fair bit off its all-time high. A move above $17 puts the ETF in breakout mode, a move that cannot be ruled as spot gold's rising tide lifts the sails of mining ETFs.