Here's an interesting story. I invest money for a family member and I had them in Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining fund. The fund did so badly for many years they changed the name to Vanguard Global Capital Cycles fund (VGPMX) and now the fund is required to hold a minimum of 25% in precious metals and the rest is invested in "safer" utilities and telecom.
Bottom line: if you are looking for some high quality names that have been vetted check them out :-)