On 19 August it was five years since the Leonteq Junior Gold Miners Quality & Momentum Index was launched. The Zurich-based finance boutique introduced this benchmark in summer 2020 with the aim of giving investors special access to the world of precious metals. The name speaks for itself: the index groups together small and medium-sized mining companies which extract gold, meet strict quality criteria and also bring plenty of momentum. So far the concept has been a complete success: having first been calculated on 23 July 2018, the Leonteq Junior Gold Miners Quality & Momentum Index barometer has managed to increase in value by more than 230% since that day. This represents an outperformance of around 30 percentage points over the benchmark, the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF.
The Leonteq Junior Gold Miners Quality & Momentum Index follows a strict selection process. Experts run through this process in July each year. Only companies which are listed on the stock markets in Toronto, Australia, New York or Hong Kong come into consideration. Their shares must have reached an average daily turnover of at least USDmn 5 in the six months before the key date. All stocks which meet the quantitative criteria are subjected to an extensive quality and momentum analysis. The index managers inspect the balance sheet closely and look at the debt ratio and also analyse net earnings growth and margins. In the momentum test, the expert panel examines price performance over one, two and three years. In order to identify particularly healthy companies that are popular with investors, a ranking is created using the quality and momentum filters. The top 20 shares are then added to the Leonteq Junior Gold Miners Quality & Momentum Index with an equal weighting.
The current heavyweight of the pack, Ramelius Resources, is a prime example of the high standards of this investment strategy. The western Australian company operates two mines. In the 2025 financial year (to 30 June), these produced a record 302.000 troy ounces of gold. The all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) came to AUD 1.551 per ounce. Thanks to high-grade ores, Ramelius stands out from its peer group with this cost indicator, which is considered standard in the sector. On the sales side, the company achieved an average gold price of AUD 3.963 per troy ounce – just under a third more than in the previous period. The combination of higher production, declining costs and a rising gold price is causing profits to soar: the Australians posted EBITDA of AUDmn 818.6 from operations in 2025, up 81% on the year before, while the EBITDA margin climbed 33% to 68%. Against this background, the enormous momentum of the Ramelius share is not surprising: in the year to date, the Sydney-listed small cap has appreciated by almost 60%.
Ramelius Resources put a dampener on things on 27 October, when the mining company from Down Under reported that the production and sales of gold had fallen in the three months to the end of September 2025 alongside a simultaneous jump in the AISC. On 28 October (after we went to print) the management intended to present its outlook for the current period as well as a “5 Year Growth Pathway”. There is a good chance that the company will set itself ambitious targets. Should Ramelius be unable to meet expectations, the spread of the Leonteq Junior Gold Miners Quality & Momentum Index should help. Along with the rigorous selection process, diversification is one of the strengths of the strategy. A tracker certificate gives investors a simple and cost-efficient way of bringing this special selection into their portfolio. The open-end participation product is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and comes with an annual administration fee of 0.60%.
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