Gold mining stocks, represented by the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF ($GDX), have experienced a substantial rally in 2025, rising over 80% year-to-date, significantly outperforming physical gold, which is up around 28% as measured by the SPDR Gold Shares ETF ($GLD). Since gold hit a record high on April 17, 2025, its price has declined slightly by about 2%, while $GDX has surged more than 20%, indicating that mining stocks are now leading the bull market in precious metals. Over the past decade, $GDX has delivered a total return of approximately 420%, more than double the 190% return of $GLD. In the last 30 days, $GDX outperformed $GLD by 15 percentage points, marking the best relative performance of gold miners to gold in three years. This rally in gold and silver prices has been notable, with gold and silver rising 75% and 60% respectively over the past two years, outperforming the S&P 500's 40% gain during the same period. Year-to-date, gold and silver are up 30% and 33%, compared to the S&P 500's 9% increase. Meanwhile, Zijin Mining reported record first-half profits but cautioned about unprecedented risks amid the global competition for key minerals. Updates on uranium and other precious metals miners have also been highlighted in recent market commentary.