European gold miners seek BoE clarification-letter
LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Three European gold mining companies said on Monday they wanted the Bank of England to publicly state its activities in the gold and gold derivatives markets.
In a letter to the Financial Times, three small mining companies representing the majority of European gold production said since the start of the year scores of reports about manipulation of the gold price had surfaced.
''All of them point to official efforts to affect the price in order to rescue the follies of one group or another,'' the letter said.
The letter was signed by Peter Hambro, president of Mines D'Or de Salsigne, Chris von Christierson, chairman of Rio Narcea Gold Mines (Toronto:RNG.TO - news), and John Morris, chief executive of Gold Mines of Sardinia (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: GMN.L).
The letter called on the Bank of England to state its gold market activity.
"In the name of transparency it is time for the Bank of England publicly to state what it is and has been doing in gold and its derivatives.
''If this is 'nothing' then the rumours will be silenced. If it is 'something', we have a right to know what and why,'' the letter said.
Gold prices moved from a 20-year low of $251.70 an ounce in late August to near a two-year high of $338.00 last month after 15 European central banks pledged to limit gold sales, lending and derivatives activity.
The letter said it was surprising that regulatory authorities had not investigated allegations of gold market price fixing.
''If stories like these concerned the manipulation of share prices, football odds or the outcome of a horse race there would be hell to pay,'' the letter added.
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