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

To: Ken Benes who wrote (57147)	8/9/2000 10:14:12 AM
From: lorne	Respond to of 116982

Asia Precious Metals Review: Gold eases on Australia selling Tokyo--Aug. 9--Selling from Australia pushed down spot gold late in the Asian trading after consolidating at about U.S. $273 for much of Wednesday's trading, dealers said. Spot platinum and palladium market continued to be dominated by prices on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) with thin activity from other Asian players, they said. (Story .2200) S Africa's mining output down 2.9% qtr on qtr in 3 mths to June Johannesburg--Aug. 8--South Africa's total mining production for the second quarter of 2000 fell by 2.9% after seasonal adjustment compared with the first quarter of 2000, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). The decrease was due to a 5.3% drop in the production of gold and a 1.4% dip in the production of non-gold minerals during the second quarter of 2000 compared with the first quarter of 2000, Stats SA added. (Story .17836) crbindex.com

To: Ken Benes who wrote (57147)	8/9/2000 1:35:51 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116982

Ghosts in the temple of gold Impressions of wartime temper a dazzling experience for LESLEY CURWEN - a unique trip deep into the Bank of England's bullion vaults My first glimpse of the vaults was unforgettable - the soft glow of billions of pounds worth of gold bars is a sight few are fortunate to see. It was the first time the Bank of England had allowed a reporter into the main vaults, and the access I was given showed how the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street is beginning to make itself more accountable. I went down to the vaults in a huge metal lift, capable of carrying four tonnes of gold, and walked through a heavy barred gate to enter one of the "larger bullion storage areas" as bullion manager Nick Durey called it. But it looked more like a temple, a long, low, white room punctuated by pillars. On bright blue metallic shelves, row upon row of gold bars shone in the artificial light. Each bar was worth about £77,000. How much was the gold in that particular vault worth? "£2.7billion," said Durey. And there were other similar vaults beyond with gold worth further billions. But its precise value is a secret. A familiar rumbling noise took me by surprise - the sound of a tube train rattling through a tunnel from nearby Bank station. The shelves, or pallets, are stored in stacks of four. Durey took me closer to one stack, 4 feet high by 3 feet wide. In that small space was gold worth close to £20million. The shelves are not stacked too high, partly because the Bank is built on soft clay. Durey admitted there was a "floor loading capacity problem". I had a sudden crazy vision of a shower of gold bars tumbling on to a tube platform. Was he worried the gold might sink through the floor? "I don't think it's ever going to appear on the Northern Line," he said wryly, "but we do have a problem with cracks in the flooring." Could I hold a bar? Durey said I would find it surprisingly heavy and a staff member would have to pass it to me. "You'll notice the chaps who do the moving are well developed, and have large shoes," he observed. He suggested I used two hands, and I did indeed need them. Gold is 70 per cent heavier than lead and the weight pulled my arms towards the floor. I gave it back, quickly. I had no idea who the bar belonged to. Most of it is not owned by the Government but by foreign central banks, which rent space, or by London bullion market members. The Bank of England itself owns just two gold bars. They are on display in the Bank's museum. Durey told me it was possible some bars could stay in the same spot in the vaults for up to half a century. They might have been bought and sold many times over, but the Bank does not need to move them around as it keeps track of ownership through a numbering system. Had there ever been an attempt to steal gold from the Bank? "Not to my knowledge," said Durey. This particular vault is unique as it contains traces of the Bank's history. On the walls are posters dating back to the Second World War, and on one pillar there is a yellowing typewritten list of booze and cigarette prices...gin and vermouth one shilling (5p)...Woodbines 10dd (4dp). The vault was a venue during the war for the Bank of England Luncheon Club, the gold having been shipped to Canada. In fact, many of the vaults soon became a workplace and a home during hostilities. Staff moved their desks below ground after a bomb fell on Waterloo station which many of them used to commute into work. In 1940 the Governor, Montague Norman, started the practice of sleeping in the vaults for three nights, then going home for two. The vaults, however, are stuffy and airless and it must have been hard to sleep - particularly with the noise of the tube trains close by. Gold and wartime ghosts - it's strange how so few people, even those within the Bank, have ever been allowed to take a peek. lineone.net