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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rarebird who wrote (46145)	12/20/1999 10:30:00 AM
From: Enigma	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116785

A sanguine response - and we're dealing with a statistical sample which washes up on the GPM shores. d

To: Rarebird who wrote (46145)	12/21/1999 9:18:00 AM
From: Alex	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116785

CdA mint hits jackpot with blanks Collectors' coins a boost for Sunshine Minting Becky Kramer - Staff writer At Sunshine Minting, employees check silver rounds for impurities, polishing them and stacking them up like casino tokens. The 1-ounce rounds will be shipped to the U.S. Mint in West Point, N.Y., where they'll be made into American Silver Eagles. Sunshine Minting has been the government's primary supplier of the silver rounds since 1998 -- a coup that's put the company on a fast-track growth spurt. The mint turns out 200,000 of the rounds, or "blanks," for American Silver Eagles each week. In addition, the Coeur d'Alene company has a 5-year contract to make blanks for quarters, half dollars and dimes. `It's not the blanks for the coins in your pocket," general manager Randy Hardy said. Those are made out of base metals -- copper, tin and zinc. Sunshine Minting makes blanks that are 90 percent silver (or 99.9 percent in the American Silver Eagles' case). The U.S. Mint uses the blanks for coins that are sold in collectors' sets. Demand has been especially strong recently. Collectors want coins stamped "1999" and "2000." The new quarters featuring the 50 states also have been popular. The U.S. Mint plans to introduce five new quarters each year for the next 10 years. To keep pace with demand, Sunshine Minting has added 76 workers in the past two years. The company employs 115 at its Government Way facility -- where the hammer of a "blanking press" echoes through the plant day and night. Furnaces run seven days per week, melting 72-pound silver bars at temperatures of up to 1,700 degrees. The mint plans to quadruple its production space with a 40,000-square-foot building near the Coeur d'Alene Airport next summer. The building will be on five acres at the intersection of Dakota Avenue and Atlas Road. In the meantime, operations manager Tom Power is eyeing the plant's small front office and reception area for additional production space. "If we'd envisioned this, we would have been in that 40,000-square-foot building two years ago," Power said. The 20-year-old company has worked several years to align itself with the U.S. Mint. In 1996, the company became a back-up supplier of silver blanks. Since then, it has gradually increased its contract. "Our name is very well known in the industry," Power said. About 50 percent of Sunshine Minting's production is for the government. The company also produces silver bullion, and makes commemorative medallions and tokens for restaurants, casinos and other companies. Medallions for anniversaries, or milestones such as the millionth ounce of gold from a mine, are particularly popular. The company is also working to increase its customer base in Europe and Asia. The mint recently sent a shipment of 1-ounce gold coins to Tonga. Geographically, the South Pacific island nation will be among the first to greet the new millennium. To celebrate the event, dignitaries will receive coins minted in North Idaho. ?Becky Kramer can be reached at (208)765-7122 or by e-mail at beckyk@spokesman.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- spokane.net