LONDON -- After falling on Friday and Monday, gold has regained its losses and is almost unchanged since last Friday, with the April futures contract down just 0.3% at $1,668.

Of course, the only practical way for most private investors to invest in gold is through exchange-traded funds. The largest gold ETF, the $72 billion SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) , has lost just 0.04% to $161.37 since last Friday's open, while London-listed Gold Bullion Securities has slipped 0.5% to $160.87 over the same period. So far this year, shareholders of Gold Bullion Securities have seen their holdings rise by 0.3%, while SPDR Gold Trust holders have lost 0.4%.

Gold's big movers Many investors prefer to invest in gold-mining stocks, rather than gold itself, as gold miners are able to use their operational gearing to outperform the price of gold. Let's take a look at some gold stocks that have gained strongly recently.

Highland Gold Mining has climbed 8% to 112 pence so far this week, doubling its gain for the year-to-date to 16%. The Russia-focused gold miner issued a trading update on Wednesday revealing an 18% increase in gold production during the 2012 financial year, which took the group's gold output to a record 216,885 oz. Highland Gold also confirmed that it expects first gold from its Belaya Gora processing facility in April 2013, and announced an increase of 2.2 million ounces in its JORC-compliant resource base.

Nautilus Minerals has soared 35% to 30 pence so far this year, amid a swirl of rumors relating to an unconfirmed takeover offer. Nautilus has spent the last few years attempting to become the first company to mine gold and copper from the sea bed, but the project has recently been placed on hold following a dispute over costs with the government of Papua New Guinea, where Nautilus' Solwara 1 prospect is located.