Buoyed by a weak dollar, falling Treasury bond yields, concerns about its safe-haven appeal, strong demand for ingots and jewelry from China, and a recent propensity on the part of central banks to acquire them, the yellow metal is hovering around its absolute highs.

This strength is not reflected in the performance of the world's major gold companies. Among this selection, only South Africa's Gold Fields, China's Zijin and AngloGold Ashanti (historically South African, but now based in the UK and listed in New York) have shown clear upward trends since 2023.

The same is true of the well-known S&P/TSX Global Gold Index (the sub-fund of the Canadian TSX index dedicated exclusively to gold), its Australian counterpart S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold (reflecting the gold compartment of the ASX), and the American Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index (which is not a purist, as it is also associated with silver mining), all of which move in tandem, but do not reflect the current craze for gold.

If we look at all metals and minerals, indices with a significant weighting in mining stocks, such as the Australian S&P/ASX 200 , weighted at 20% of mining stocks, the South African FTSE JSE South Africa (which includes Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, BHP, Glencore, Gold Fields, and a host of younger members such as Impala, Exxaro resources, Northam Platinum, etc.), only the Oceania index seems to benefit from the fervor surrounding gold, lithium and copper.

To invest in gold miners, here is a selection of dedicated ETFs: