The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that two years of belt-tightening by the biggest gold miners have allowed bondholders to reap greater rewards for less risk. A Bloomberg dispatch to The Globe says that the collapse of the commodities supercycle left companies struggling to repair debt-ridden balance sheets. Since 2015, however, the top three North American gold producers -- Barrick, Newmont and Goldcorp -- have all cut debt dramatically. One consequence of this is that the longer-term bonds of these senior gold miners are less sensitive to movements in metals prices than are those of the broader materials sector, for both technical and fundamental reasons. On the technical side, the market for these issues has become increasingly illiquid. That has left most of the debt in the hands of long-term investors, such as insurance companies, who are more likely to hold fast, according to Zachary Chavis at Sage Advisory in Austin, Tex. "They kind of trade by appointment," Mr. Chavis said of the gold miners' bonds. "No dealer is going to short these names." Fundamentally, debt reduction has strengthened the investment-grade ratings of senior gold miners, making them less reactive to market swings.