I got through the reading faster than I thought. Since my time is limited this morning, I thought I would have to reply later.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/172870-van-eck-s-new-junior-gold-miner-etf-a-preliminary-analysis

If you read this link that you supplied down towards the end of the article the author expresses concerns quite similar to mine noting that the fund has "permission" through its prospectus (and the bad stuff is always in fine print) to invest in derivatives and can actually (though unlikely) hold no shares at all.

Money in my opinion that could have gone into the junior companies will be used to play the derivative game.

P.