Here’s a chart of the popular mining ETF, GDX, relative to the spot gold price:

Source: stockcharts.com

A long-term chart of XAU index to gold shows the lowest value in 20 years except for the panic low in 2008:

Source: stockcharts.com via http://oilandgas-investments.com

Since last summer, this ratio has been bouncing around in a range not seen since the depths of the last bear market in late 2008 to early 2009.

Our own gold producer index is still slightly lower than before that crash, when gold topped out at $1000.

As a result of high metal prices and strong cash flows, we are now showing 66 miners that are actually paying dividends, a rarity in this industry:

http://miningalmanac.com/stock-lists/dividend-mining-companies