Important questions
Published by MAC on 2001-05-01Important questions
Why is it that gold continues to be the prime target for metallic exploration, even though the market price fell below the break-even point of US$300 an ounce in 1997, and has climbed only erratically since?
Why is it that, although the world's industrial nations (led by the US) agreed to abandon the gold standard as a backing for currency nearly thirty years ago, it continues to be held by a variety of banks, institutions and individuals, as a "hedge" against inflation or currency devaluation, or a "store of value"?
Why, when nearly all the gold ever mined is theoretically available to be re-used, do states, mining companies, and small-scale miners, continue to search for and exploit gold across the world?
This information pack consists of a collection of recent articles (1997-1999) drawn mainly from the London Financial Times and the mining press, which is intended to provide clues to these important questions.
The pack is presented to Minewatch Asia Pacific contacts and associates NOT as a definitive dossier (it is drawn from a much larger information file) but as an aid to discussion and debate.