January 2012, Week 4 Edition
Gold Mining Operations are Being Resisted in Peru and Other Lands
In recent years, as we have written here, there has been backlash against the raping of primitive soil for gold, especially in the Peruvian rainforest. Smithsonian magazine featured an article on "Gold Fever" in their February 2012 issue. The subhead encapsulates their view: "Rapacious mining to satisfy worldwide lust for the precious metal is destroying pristine rainforest in the Amazon." The 10-page article focuses on Peru, the world's sixth largest gold producer, where most of the mining (90% or more) is done illegally. In Peru, over 100 square miles have been razed by gold miners burning the forest and "stripping away the surface of the earth, perhaps 50 feet down. At the same time, miners are contaminating rivers and streams, as mercury, used in separating gold, leaches into the watershed. Ultimately, the potent toxin, taken up by fish, enters the food chain." Deforestation, they say, has grown six-fold from 2003 to 2009.
Some common-sense restraints on gold mining would also help those of us who own gold coins and gold bars today. Since gold is becoming ever scarcer, more men will take more risks to find gold, especially if the price exceeds $2000 per ounce. Deep exploration and chemical extraction of gold may cost the earth and the nearby human settlements dearly, as the price of gold rises. With all the easy gold being already above ground in the form of jewelry, coins, bars and industrial uses, perhaps some common-sense local regulations against despoiling their neighborhood will mean that gold becomes even more rare, and more costly.
Happy New Year! China Begins the "Year of the Dragon" This Week
Monday, January 23 marks the first day of China's Year of the Dragon. In the Chinese zodiac, the years named after animals (mythical or real) fall every 12 years. The Year of the Dragon has particular significance in a nation which reveres the dragon symbol. The most recent dragon years were 1964, 1976, 1988 and 2000.
In preparation for the dawn of the Dragon this year, demand for gold in China has been rising over the last three months. Last November, the latest month for which we have records, China imported a record 100+ tons of gold. A key way of measuring China's gold imports is the total shipments of gold from Hong Kong to mainland China. That totaled 102 tons in November, a 20% increase over October and six times the purchases of November, 2011. This means that China is still in the gold-buying mood, even though Beijing has temporarily limited the number of retail gold shops in China.
Michael Fuljenz Interviewed by FOX Business Network,
Honored at World's Fair of Money
(Rosemont, Illinois) - As gold prices soared, national news media obtained expert commentary and advice for investors from Michael Fuljenz, Numismatic Consultant for 1st American Reserve, of Beaumont, Texas, during the Chicago World's Fair of Money(SM), August 16 - 20, 2011.
Latest NRA News
Over 71,000 people converged on Pittsburgh for the 2011 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits and flooding to 1st American Reserve's booth to discover how to buy gold and rare coins and to see award-winning gold and rare coin expert Mike Fuljenz's Million Dollar handpicked rare gold coin portfolio.
