VanEck Gold Miners AUD ETF (ASX: GDX) has risen 80% in two years and is paying a 15% dividend yield this season.
On Tuesday, GDX ETF is trading at $96.56 per unit, down 3.4%.
On 27 July, GDX will pay an extraordinarily high annual distribution of $17.99 per unit.
That's the biggest distribution GDX has paid since inception in 2015.
For comparison, the FY25 distribution was 63 cents per unit.
When the distribution was announced, GDX was trading at $114.80, which meant the payment equated to a 15.6% dividend yield.
The unit price has now fallen by the approximate size of the dividend, as expected, since going ex-dividend on 2 July.
This total return is very impressive, but one expert reckons it's time to sell this ASX ETF.
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Why expert says sell this ASX ETF
On The Bull this week, Remo Greco from Sanlam Private Wealth explained his sell rating on GDX ETF.
A soaring gold price in the past few years has contributed to the strong performance of GDX.
The ETF has risen from $59.36 on January 6, 2025 to trade at $94.89 on July 2, 2026.
We are bearish about the outlook for gold in response to a stronger US dollar and potentially rising interest rates.
Even at weaker levels, we can't justify the gold price.
We would be inclined to take a profit in GDX at these levels.
Gold price bull run
The gold price has soared since early 2024, but the pace of growth was slower over FY26 at 18%.
The gold price bull run came about due to the freezing of Russia's foreign-currency reserves after the Ukraine invasion in 2022.
This prompted central banks worldwide to diversify their reserves away from the US and into the safe-haven metal.
Concern over new US policies and US debt levels, along with geopolitical uncertainty, then started to weigh on the US currency.
This further encouraged central banks, and then investors, to buy gold.
Large inflows into gold ETFs, especially in 1H FY26, sent the gold price to a record US$5,608 per ounce before a 21% dive in January.
Despite the correction to about US$4,405 per ounce, experts said gold miners were still going to make heaps of money.
And did they ever. That's one reason why GDX is paying a massive dividend this season.
The gold price fell further over 2H FY26, and is US$4,126 per ounce today.
More about GDX ETF
GDX ETF seeks to mirror the performance of the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index (AUD) Index.
ASX GDX invests in 105 gold mining shares, with 44% in Canada, 24% in the US, 9% in Australia, and 6% in Brazil.
The ASX gold shares in the GDX portfolio include Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST), Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN), Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX: PRU), Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD), Greatland Resources Ltd (ASX: GGP), Capricorn Metals Ltd (ASX: CMM), and Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS).
GDX ETF has total net assets of $1.3 billion.
