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Gold - National Geographic cover story Jan 2009


stobar

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...available online and well worth a read, the other side of the coin (as it were):

 

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/01/gold/larmer-text

 

“...and every country in the world—the United States was last, in 1971—has done away with the gold standard”

errrrr...try the Swiss Give Up The Gold Standard

 

“...Caterpillar 793 haul truck, one of the world's largest trucks. Standing 21 feet tall and 43 feet long...”

err...so that’s really 18.2ft and 42.2ft MacAllister CAT Product Website about 15% exaggeration on the length

 

“...the man swirls several pounds of liquid mercury into a wooden pan to separate the gold from the rock.... Sánchez frowns. It weighs only 1.1 grams, about one-thirtieth of an ounce... leaves the family with less than $20”

Mercury is $650 per 76lbs Financial Post Commodite Prices 24.12.2008 say several pounds is 3lbs so $650/(76lbs/3) = $25.66, gold best price last year at $1000 troy oz and 31.1g per troy oz = $1000/31.1x1.1 = $29.88. So $29.88 - $25.66 = $4.22 - Millers fee = less $20.00 for the family, Hmm....I am sure that Monty Python wrote a sketch about paying someone so that they could work for them.

 

I do not think that I will ever understand journalists, bloggers, diarists, conspiracy theorists, etc who cannot be bothered to check their facts, it makes one think that the whole of the article could be false and made up in some swanky hotel room or possibly even in an office somewhere in a land far, far away.

 

P.S. I am NOT having a pop at you stobar for posting the thread, please keep on posting them, I am just having a pop at all those that cannot be bothered to do their own research.

 

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I like this one:

"Extracting a single ounce of gold there—the amount in a typical wedding ring—requires the removal of more than 250 tons of rock and ore"

 

Clearly, the author is talking out of his bottom here. My wedding ring, which is typical, weighs 5.1 grams and is 9 carrat, which is less than 2 grams of gold. Thats about 1/16 of an ounce.

 

If I remmember correctly, 4 grams per ton is economicaly viable, so thats half a ton of gold ore.

 

The article states 250 tons so exagerates by 500 times!

 

Im enjoying reading it though, good post!!

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Clearly, the author is talking out of his bottom here. My wedding ring, which is typical, weighs 5.1 grams and is 9 carrat, which is less than 2 grams of gold. Thats about 1/16 of an ounce.

Yes, I wondered about that. You could make a decent knuckle-duster with one ounce pure!

 

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