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GoldManHank's Summer 2011 Exploits NO Gold - Plenty of Hardship!

2011-08-01T09:04:00.001-07:00

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2011-07-16T12:26:00.001-07:00

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California Suction Dredging News

2011-07-11T08:11:00.001-07:00

Gold miners celebrate a line-item veto that Governor Brown made in the final State Budget today.
Suction dredge mining in California has been under a temporary moratorium since 2009, when the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) began conducting an Environmental Impact Report on the practice.
In February 2011 the draft report was released, which concludes that suction dredge mining is not deleterious to fish.
But the positive outcome was not anticipated by a handful of Indian tribes and environmental extremists who don't like suction dredging, so they concocted an erroneous $1.8m deficit in the suction dredge program and proposed to Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) that he carry the 'budget cutting' language to the State Budget in a trailer bill. The bill language was written in such a way that the DFG would have been prevented from ever publishing the EIR, thus ending suction dredge mining forever in California.
Miners got word of the last-minute attempt to kill the industry and began contacting Governor Brown and the Legislators who had been supplied with the erroneous information. In three party-line votes, all Democrats voted for the 'budget cut' and all Republicans voted against it. Because the Democrats have majority in both houses, the trailer bill passed and was sent to the Governor for his signature. Fortunately, the bill died there today.
With Governor Brown's veto, the DFG can now publish the EIR findings and resume updating the dredge mining regulations.
However, in a companion attack by the same anti-mining foes, amended moratorium language was inserted in yet another trailer budget bill AB120, which, if enacted, will add five more years to the soon-expiring moratorium which began in 2009.
"It is our hope that Governor Brown will allow the original moratorium to be solved with the EIR scientific findings," states Dunn, "rather than allowing anti-mining foes to keep inventing new criteria for the DFG to chase after, and wasting taxpayers' money while doing so."
If the Governor vetoes the trailer bill language, the nearly immediate consequences to California's economy would be positive: 4,000 miners will be back to work and 15,000 inter-related jobs will be protected, adding much needed revenues to the State's coffers.
The suction dredge gold mining industry generates $23 million annually in California, and supports jobs in more than 14 sectors, including restaurants, hardware stores, gas stations and camping outfitters. "These are real mom and pop businesses that rely on miners every season," says Dunn. They, along with the miners, are hoping for a quick and positive decision by the Governor on AB120.

Suciton Dredging, Here we go again
07-07-2011
More bad news for suction dredging. Call or email the Governor now and tell him to veto AB 120. Bellow is a letter from Mark Stopher regarding the current state of Suction Dredging. To email the Governor, follow the link in the Political Action section of this web site.
Interested Parties

Governor Brown vetoed specific parts of the State budget bill (i.e. SB 87), eliminating the provisions which would have prohibited the Department of Fish and Game from expending any funds for the development of suction dredge regulations. His message stated

"I am deleting Provision 3, which would prohibit the Department of Fish and Game from using funds appropriated in this item for suction-dredge regulation, permitting, or other activities, except enforcement and litigation costs. This provision would prohibit the Department from completing a court-ordered Environmental Impact Report regarding the impacts of suction dredge mining on Coho salmon and other threatened or endangered species. While I am vetoing this language to ensure the Department is not in violation of the court order, I direct the Secretary of Resources to examine the program and associated policies before restarting the permit process."

This action resolves some of the uncertainty about completion of the regulation writing process and compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which we had projected for completion in November of 2011. As of this moment, the Governor has not acted yet on a related budget trailer bill, i.e. AB 120. AB 120 includes the following language:

""(12) Existing law designates the issuance by the Department of Fish and Game of permits to operate vacuum or suction dredge equipment to be a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and suspends the issuance of permits, and mining pursuant to a permit, until the department has completed an environmental impact report for the project as ordered by the court in a specified court action. Existing law prohibits the use of any vacuum or suction dredge equipment in any river, stream, or lake, for instream mining purposes, until the Director of Fish and Game certifies to the Secretary of State that (a) the department has completed the environmental review of its existing vacuum or suction dredge equipment regulations as ordered by the court, (b) the department has transmitted for filing with the Secretary of State a certified copy of new regulations, as necessary, and (c) the new regulations are operative. This bill would modify that moratorium to prohibit the use of vacuum or suction dredge equipment until June 30, 2016, or until the director’s certification to the secretary as described above, whichever is earlier. The bill would additionally require the director to certify that the new regulations fully mitigate all identified significant environmental impacts and that a fee structure is in place that will fully cover all costs to the department related to the administration of the program."

The key elements are that the current moratorium is extended to June 30, 2016 unless, as before, the Department of Fish and Game complete its environmental review under CEQA, adopts new regulations and those regulations take effect. It adds two new requirements. First, all significant impacts must be fully mitigated. This appears to be a different standard for approval than we were previously working toward, however, the term "fully mitigate" is not defined in CEQA or the Fish and Game Code. And a new fee structure must be in place. This latter requirement will require legislation. Each new requirement has the potential to affect the substance of the outcome and timing of these efforts.

Currently, we continue to work on the regulations and Final SEIR. Once the outcome of AB 120 is known we will reconsider how this effort will proceed.

Mark Stopher
Environmental Program Manager
California Department of Fish and Game
601 Locust Street
Redding, CA 96001

voice 530.225.2275
fax 530.225.2391
cell 530.945.1344
mstopher@dfg.ca.gov

Interested Parties

As of this moment, Assembly Bill 120 has not yet been sent to the Governor's disk. It was approved by the legislature on 06/15/2011. After approval, a bill goes to "Engrossing and Enrolling" before being transferred to the Governor's office. This bill currently remains at this step.

If you wish to check status on this legislation you can do so at any time over the internet at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquerybill_number=ab_120&sess=CUR&house=B&author=committee_on_budget

Mark Stopher
Environmental Program Manager
California Department of Fish and Game
601 Locust Street
Redding, CA 96001

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California is Considering an Additional 5-year Moratorium on Suction Dredging!

2011-06-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

A trailer bill has been quietly approved by the two Budget Committees in the California legislature to impose an additional 5-year moratorium on suction dredging, which includes elimination of the last bit of funding to finish the ongoing (and nearly completed) review of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that supports our regulations. The budget has yet to be voted upon by the full legislature or governor. If passed into law, this would effectively put an end to suction dredging in California for the next 6 seasons or more.

Justification for the moratorium is based upon two arguments: The first is that the annual suction dredge permitting and enforcement program costs California more than the State receives in permit fees. But the Department of Fish & Game (DFG) recently testified in Alameda Superior Court that they take in more permit revenues from suction dredging than the cost of managing our program. So we know this is not true. And what about all of the economic activity that suction dredging generates in California? Recent estimates from DFG place that at $23 million per year before the first moratorium was imposed in 2009.

Besides, if this were really about funding, the State legislature is very experienced at increasing permit fees (this is not an encouragement). It only requires a single legislative session to accomplish that.

This is really about closing down a productive industry in California!

The second justification for an additional moratorium (and the real reason behind it) is that anti-mining activists do not like the way the environmental review is going. My sources are telling me that DFG has processed over 10,000 comments from the public over the suction dredging program; and, thanks to you guys, has decided to adopt regulations which are more user-friendly to our industry than what they had proposed several months ago. Our adversaries do not like that.

I always believed that the Administrative process would come out in our favor. California adopted the Administrative process to make certain the least-restrictive regulations would be imposed upon small business and property owners to resolve real issues that could be demonstrated by truth and science. Mark Stopher, the DFG official in charge of our environmental review, told FoxNews.com, “It's our view that suction dredging can be regulated in a way that we don't have deleterious effect on fish at the population level”

So now that the Administrative process (which was ordered by both the California legislature and Alameda Superior Court) is coming out in our favor, the California legislature is considering trashing its own legal Administrative process; and voting to eliminate the most productive method of small-scale gold mining remaining within the State.

By the way, if California now votes to stop funding the ongoing environmental review, the State will be in contempt of Alameda Superior Court’s Order to get it done! Can anyone wonder why the State is broke?

Thanks to the Internet, many supporters have been mobilized during this previous week, and lots of people are voicing opposition to the budget language that would impose the additional 5-year moratorium. Here is a sample letter for you to copy the text, sign and either mail or fax to Governor Brown. Please remember to include your address below where you sign your name. Governor Brown’s postal address and fax number are included at the top of the sample letter.

I do not want to detract from ongoing efforts to resolve this in the California legislature. But this is the right time to also make a hard push for you guys to support our legal drawing, which only has about a month remaining (3 ounces of my gold from last season).

Many of you will recall several years ago when the entire industry stood behind the effort to prevent Senate Bill 670 (first moratorium) from being passed into law. We had hired one of Sacramento’s most experienced lobbyists to direct our efforts, and put the full weight of our resources into the effort to defeat that bill. In the end, everydemocrat and about half the republicans in the California legislature voted against us, and the bill was signed by a republican governor. This was not for lack of enough effort on the part of miners. We were just up against a stacked deck. And maybe we still are!

So I strongly suggest that we need to prepare right now for what comes next if this 5-year moratorium is passed into law.

My prediction is that we will need to challenge the new moratorium in court. I have asked our attorney to start preparing for a court challenge. Here is a preliminary memo from him on this subject.

Get this: Originally, no permit from the State was required at all to do suction dredging on the federal lands in California. Then California passed a law saying that we would be in violation of State law unless we obtained a permit from them to operate suction dredges. Now they are passing a series of moratoriums which prevent State agencies from issuing permits for suction dredging. That amounts to a deliberate prohibition of suction dredging on the federal lands. The Supreme Court has already ruled that state legislatures to not have the authority to do this.

In case you had not realized it, we are directly on the front lines of the war upon America. It is a pretty ugly situation when special interests can persuade a state legislature (or county commissioners, or whoever) to vote your property rights and productive livelihoods out of existence; just like that! Someone wise once said that the problem with a democracy is that it will eventually be taken over by special interests to the detriment of the average person who must work for a living. Are we there, yet?

The truth is that even if we manage to overcome this situation with politics (and we should try), our adversaries will be back to do it again, and again. The only long term solution is for a higher court to decide that this sort of nonsense cannot be done.

The reason I am pushing legal fundraising right now is because I do not want to take the lead on another legal challenge unless there is a strong showing of support at the beginning (support in money, not just words) from you guys. I hate to sound like a sissy, but the last two legal actions which I led had me owing more than $30K (each time) at various times (to attorneys) because industry support was not keeping up with the costs.

That's the thing about getting into a fight. Once you are in the ring, you are committed to last it out, even if the guy in your corner quits or takes a break. It can get pretty stressful for the guy (me) who must sign a pledge to pay the lawyers! So before initiating a legal action on behalf of the industry, I need to know that you guys are going to stand behind me.　

Irresponsible Mining Practices

Because of the moratorium on suction dredging, we now have more members digging for gold up out of the water. Therefore, our Internal Affairs guys are keeping busy trying to prevent the activity from exceeding the agreements that we have made with the U.S. Forest Service.

I explained in last month’s newsletter the reasons why our combined impacts cannot rise above the level of what our local forest ranger considers to be a “substantial surface disturbance.” So I will not go into that again. But I will say that, as an organized group, we have two choices on how to work things out with the Forest Service. Either we can do it as a group program where the cumulative impact remains less than substantial; or each individual member can work out your own program with the Forest Service. We have been successfully doing it the first way now since 1986. This is the better way for you guys, because there is much less hassle when you do not have to get a pass from the Ranger every time you want to prospect in another place along our extensive properties .

But the only way we can continue under a group program such as ours is if each of us remains within our Surface Mining Guidelines.

The challenge of our Internal Affairs is to prevent just a few aggressive, irresponsible guys from ruining the opportunity for everyone else.

Our surface mining guidelines are included as part of our published Rules. But the main points are as follows:

1) Your excavation should not be any larger than necessary to continue your work safely. Otherwise, you should be back-filling your hole as you make progress. We do not want to see any large holes out there that you “plan to back-fill later.”

2) You should not be undermining the bank of the waterway or any trees (like digging into the roots of a tree that is sitting next to the stream).

3) You must fill your hole completely back in before you start a new excavation or depart the area.Please do not leave any open excavations behind!

4) If you are processing pay-dirt with pumped water, the water that flows from your recovery system cannot discharge material from the bank, or dirty water, into the active waterway.

If everyone just stays within these guidelines, we would not have much of a problem keeping our program under the radar. The problem is that there are some people who do not care about these guidelines, or the consequences to themselves or the rest of us from irresponsible mining practices. That is the reason I have brought up this subject two months in a row.

We have discovered from long experience that second chances nearly always result in just more irresponsible mining. Therefore, be warned that we will immediately suspend mining privileges along our properties for anyone who is doing irresponsible mining.

Since this kind of message is not normally understood by the guys who disregard our rules, this is mostly for the benefit of all our good members. I suspect the irresponsible ones will make plenty of noise about how unfair we are when their mining privileges are suspended. I am already hearing noise from some of them. Here is how it sounds:“We have too many rules.” “We have sold out to the government agencies.” “We have breached our agreement by changing the rules.” “We are doing false advertising.” The truth is that our high-banking (surface mining) rules have not changed since 1986, all the way back to our first season!

Believe me when I say that we have a firm policy about just leaving you alone so you can get on with your program, as long as you are operating within our rules. We are plenty busy without having to run around and hassle members!

On that note, we will be suspending the mining privileges of several well-known members this next week. Based upon how things have been going, more suspensions are likely to follow. This is likely to be painful all around. But if we do not get a handle on irresponsible miners, things are going to be more difficult for everyone else. I do not intend to be a sissy when it comes down to a few irresponsible people who would ruin it for everyone else. So when you hear the stories about how unfair we are, at least you will know what it is about.

Reprinted from California is Considering an Additional 5-year Moratorium on Suction Dredging

Gold - the New Frontier - Is it the New Medium of Exchange

2011-06-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

With the current economy looking as if it is, more and more, becoming unstable it appears that precious metals, particularly gold, is becoming the new medium of exchange, or at least that of a way to invest. Is gold the new money, and how long will this trend last. With the downward spiraling economy a new resurgence in gold fever has taken shape like the gold rush of 1848. People are flocking towards the finding, and purchasing of gold.

Everywhere you look you can see advertisements for gold, in all forms of media.

Gold, and silver, has quickly become one of the highest searched terms on the Internet.

With this resurgent interest in gold, more and more people are becoming interested in prospecting and metal detecting.

Gold was long popular as a medium of exchange and store of value because it was inert, was convenient to move due to even small amounts of gold having considerable value, had a constant value due to its special physical and chemical properties, and was cherished by men.I'd like to start with a brief history of gold, and it's importance to America. Although, the history of gold predates that of America, I am primarily concerned with it's history and use in America today; the 21st century.

Since the mid 1800's Gold has been a source of exchange. Although most people believe gold was discovered in California in 1848,they would be wrong. The truth is, in 1799, gold was discovered in North Carolina spurring a gold rush there, which led to speculation that there was probably gold in Georgia.

According to legend, a Yankee was bitten by a yellow-jacket when passing through Brindletown, North Carolina, and discovered gold in the walls of the mud-daubed cabin when he hit his hand against it. It started a gold rush in 1828, near Dahlonega, Georgia, preceding the California gold rush by 20 years. Dahlonega became a boom town in the Georgia Gold Rush.

Two factors connected with the Georgia gold discovery created the conditions that led to the Georgia Gold Rush in 1829. First, the placer deposits found in Georgia meant that gold was relatively easy to collect. Second, word of Georgia's gold deposits spread rapidly, with stories that captured the imagination.

By 1830, historians estimate that there were 4,000 miners working on just the Yahoola Creek in Lumpkin County, Georgia, and over 300 ounces (8.5 kg) of gold per day was being produced in an area.

So much gold was being discovered that a mint was established at Dahlonega. The Dahlonega Mint was chartered by the United States Congress and erected in 1837. The purpose of the Mint was to tap the newly discovered source of gold for coins and to provide a place for miners to have their gold assayed and sold. Coins of various denominations were minted at the mint, but after the Civil War the mint was closed.

By the early 1840s, most of the "easy" gold had been found, and efforts began to shift to working the known deposits. When news of the California Gold Rush reached Georgia, many miners moved west in search of more gold.

From its steps in 1849, Dahlonega Mint assayer Dr. M. F. Stephenson tried to persuade miners to stay in Dahlonega instead of joining the California Gold Rush.

Experienced gold miners from Georgia played key roles in the beginning of gold mining in Colorado. Georgia gold miners Lewis and Samuel Ralston, along with some displaced Georgia Cherokees, noticed placer gold near the present site of Denver on their way to the new California gold fields in 1850.

Placerita Canyon is etched in history. California's first gold rush occurred there in 1842, six years before John Marshall's famous discovery at Coloma. It began when Francisco Lopez of Rancho San Francisco (near present day Newhall) grew tired of chasing stray horses and sat down to rest under an oak tree. While resting, Lopez dug up a cluster of wild onions. Clinging to the roots were tiny gold nuggets. The discovery caused much excitement, and attracted miners from all over California.

James Marshal sparked the greatest Gold Rush in U.S. history when he found a glittering piece of gold in the American River back in 1848. As word of the discovery raced across the country, prospecting and mining activity spread rapidly for hundreds of miles along the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but the undefined area known as the Mother Lode was mainly located in Amador County in the foothills east of Sacramento. Many mines were started and many disappeared. Eight of them, in a 10 mile strip from Plymouth to Jackson, each having produced more than 1,000,000 or more ounces of gold, earned the distinction of being world class gold mines. They are credited for over half the total yield of the entire Mother Lode.

The current condition of gold can only be described as "amazing".

The past 30 years have saw some remarkable trends in the price of gold. In 1980, gold saw a spike in the price of gold from three-hundred dollars to eight-hundred dollars, per ounce. Shortly after, though, it rescinded and remained at an up and down pricing of from four-hundred to six-hundred dollars. In 2004 we began to see another spike which , brought us to now, where gold hovers somewhere around fourteen-hundred dollars an ounce.

The current global economic conditions are helping the keep the price of gold high. As the world economies begin to devalue themselves, on their open markets, precious metal prices rise.

Gold prices rose 400% in the past decade and made a record breaking run in 2010, rising 26% and hitting an intraday high of $1,476.20 an ounce. "People see the whipsaw in the currencies market and they want to buy gold and call it a day," said Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago.

Now universal experience proves that gold and silver have an attractiveness for the race superior to that felt for any other kind of merchandise or property. In the earliest periods of which history or tradition gives any account, and which are far anterior to any possible concert or agreement between the different races and nations inhabiting the earth, the precious metals occupied precisely the same relation to the wants and nature of man that they do to-day. They served as money in trade, and were regarded as the most desirable of all kinds of property to hold. In every period of human history their possessor has always been able to purchase whatever a people had among whom he might happen to be cast, whether they were civilized or savage. No other articles of property have a similar power; for, with the exception of the precious metals, what is highly prized by one people, is often little valued by another. But in the desire to possess gold and silver, all races, barbarous and civilized -- Asiatic, African, European and American -- meet on the same plane. To all they have an attractiveness equal in durability and intensity, and among all they render those who fortunately possess them masters of the property and services of those who do not.

There are many factors that move the gold price. In 2010, one of the most popular reasons was investors buying gold as a hedge against financial disaster in Europe as European Union nations like Greece and Ireland teetered on the brink of default. The response by most governments, one of the biggest offenders being the U.S., was to print money. As paper currencies declined in value, the price of gold rose.

But 2011 has been dicey for gold, with prices getting smacked with double-digit sell offs and rallies. The common culprit has been labeled "rebalancing," where traders who bought gold at the end of the year to show they owned it dumped it in 2011 to book a profit.

Gold is the quintessential precious metal and throughout the years marking the turn of the century, the cry of "gold" ensured sudden rushes to even the most remote locations. Whether to the far recesses of Alaska or the mountainous regions of California, gold sent men panning and digging, while families and businesses followed.

In simplest terms, gold '" the raw material '" is a bona fide means of keeping inflation at bay and having a recession proof currency on hand. This of course is now being proven one more time; investors who got badly burned by the dipping stock market are putting their equity into gold, hoping that there they are fairly inoculated against any further market ups and downs.

At the heart of it, is fear. Gold is possibly the best fear gauge there is. When investors are scared over inflation, civil war, earthquakes, nuclear reactor meltdowns and debt defaults, they run to gold.With the current economy looking as if it is, more and more, becoming unstable it appears that precious metals, particularly gold, is becoming the new medium of exchange, or at least that of a way to invest. Is gold the new money, and how long will this trend last. With the downward spiraling economy a new resurgence in gold fever has taken shape like the gold rush of 1848. People are flocking towards the finding, and purchasing of gold.

Everywhere you look you can see advertisements for gold, in all forms of media.

Gold, and silver, has quickly become one of the highest searched terms on the Internet.

With this resurgent interest in gold, more and more people are becoming interested in prospecting and metal detecting.

I'd like to start with a brief history of gold, and it's importance to America. Although, the history of gold predates that of America, I am primarily concerned with it's history and use in America today; the 21st century.

By 1830, historians estimate that there were 4,000 miners working on just the Yahoola Creek in Lumpkin County, Georgia, and over 300 ounces (8.5 kg) of gold per day was being produced in an area.

From its steps in 1849, Dahlonega Mint assayer Dr. M. F. Stephenson tried to persuade miners to stay in Dahlonega instead of joining the California Gold Rush.

The current condition of gold can only be described as "amazing".

The current global economic conditions are helping the keep the price of gold high. As the world economies begin to devalue themselves, on their open markets, precious metal prices rise.

The Law of Success

2011-05-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.thebestbizusa.com/virtapay/salespage_TheLawOfSuccess.html

7 Fascinating facts about gold – and why they matter

2011-05-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Before we get into why they matters, and actually influence gold prices globally, here are seven interesting facts about gold.

1. There are only 165,000 metric tonnes of gold in existence above ground.

Gold is rare. If every single ounce of this gold were placed next to each other, the resulting cube of pure gold would only measure 20 metres in each direction. This includes all the gold in museums, all the gold in central bank vaults, all the gold jewelry in the world…and every other scrap of gold in existence.

2. The world’s first international gold currency was created in 564 BC.

King Croesus is credited with the issuing the first true gold coins Their uniform gold content allowed ‘Croesids’ to become widely recognised and traded. That said, they were made of electrum, a naturally occurring pale yellow alloy of gold and silver.

But the point here not their purity, but the fact that he took gold and turned it into money. And it has been money ever since.

3. Almost 41Kg of gold was used in the construction of the US Columbia space shuttle.

That’s a lot of gold! And it isn’t just the shuttles that contains gold. Many satellites carry gold-coated mylar sheets to protect them from solar heat. This reflective gold-coated plastic film protects essential equipment from intense solar radiation and heat.

Satellite microelectronics that relay data back to earth also depend on gold components to ensure reliable, corrosion-resistant and static-free performance.

In other words, gold has become a high-tech resource.

4. Within the global investment world, investments in gold make up less than 1% of the total.

Think about all the money that is invested around the world. As you might guess, the lion’s share is invested in stocks and bonds, globally. But you might be surprised to know that less than one percent of the world’s investments are in gold…whether that be in the form of ETFs or gold bullion.

Why is that number so low? Two reasons. First, professional investors are just not “into” gold the way they are with stocks and bonds. Second, there just isn’t that much gold available. For example, professionals couldn’t allocate 10% of the world’s investments in gold, because there isn’t enough gold out there.

5. The first recorded use of gold in dentistry dates back to 600 BC.

The Etruscans can take credit for the very first use of gold in dentistry. They used it to secure replacement teeth into their patients’ mouths. Gold is still used extensively in dentistry today, because of its bio-compatibility, malleability and corrosion resistance.

Gold is also in demand for the manufacture of certain medications, particularly in the treatment of arthritis.

6. An ounce of gold can be stretched for 50 miles.

Gold is the most malleable and ductile pure metal known. It is so pliable that it can be made into sewing thread. An ounce of gold can be stretched for over 50 miles. It can also be beaten flat into an incredibly thin sheet, just a few microns thick.

7. Approximately 60% of today’s gold becomes jewelry.

In East Asia, India and the Middle East, gold has powerful cultural meaning, accounting for approximately 70% of the world’s gold jewellery in 2009. In this respect, gold is unique. It is only because of our familiarity with gold and its various uses that we don’t find it odd that a single metal is used both as a store of money by central banks, and also as a metal for creating personal jewelry.

So why does all this matter?

Well, there are three points to consider with gold.

One, it is extremely rare. And it is becoming increasingly expensive to get it out of the ground.

Two, once it is above ground, there is competition for it. Much of it goes for use as jewelry, and an increasing amount is being used for high-tech applications and for medicine. That leaves only a limited supply for use as money, or for investment purposes.

Three, because of its limited supply, it will only take a relatively small increase in investment demand to send the price sky high. For example, if the world’s pension fund managers all decided they wanted to increase their gold holdings from under one percent to two or three percent, they would have a huge problem finding enough gold.

It is gold’s scarcity and the sensitivity of its price to even a small increase in global demand that makes it such a remarkable investment opportunity right now.

If you don’t hold any gold right now, I strongly recommend that you get started.

SOURCE: http://www.owninggold.com/blog/2011/05/7-fascinating-facts-about-gold-and-why-they-matter/

5 Reasons Why Gold Will Rise

2011-05-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

1. Economy

How many times have you heard the phrase “not since the Great Depression” applied to today's economic climate?
It's fitting, given that the United States has endured the deepest and longest economic correction since the 1930s.
The U.S. manufacturing base has been shipped overseas. The few jobs being created are in the service industry or government sector.
The official unemployment rate hovers near 10%, and 1 out of every 8 Americans is on food stamps. Volatility plagues the stock market.
The 2008 economic implosion gutted real-estate values, sent foreclosures skyrocketing and required a nearly $1 trillion bailout of the
“too big to fail” investment banks. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are under U.S. conservatorship, along with General Motors.
The U.S. government has fallen into a mammoth gulch of multi-trillion-dollar deficits and unfunded liabilities, and it's not going to
emerge from that hole without higher taxes and painful austerity measures. Meanwhile, debt time bombs already are exploding in some of
our biggest cities and states.

2. Fear

As the market does its daily job of balancing fear and greed, it becomes increasingly apparent that fear predominates.
Investors are abandoning anything with the slightest hint of risk. The sovereign-debt crisis that started with Iceland and Greece
is threatening to spread across the globe. Fearful investors are shifting assets from the euro and other weakening currencies into gold.
Even the recently sagging U.S. dollar has benefited, but given that the debt-laden federal government is about as bad off as Greece in
every important economic metric, the world's reserve currency is living on borrowed time. The stock market rebounded from its 2008-09 depths,
but some analysts say it's overbought and due for painful correction. And the Dow's 1,000-point plunge on May 6, 2010, showed investors just how
breathtakingly vulnerable paper assets can be. Meanwhile, the winds of war continue to howl across the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere, exacting
huge costs in Ameri can blood and treasure.

3. Demand

The Federal Reserve has kept U.S. interest rates at virtually zero, with no sign of a hike on the horizon, thereby lowering the opportunity cost of
buying gold. And investors have responded with astonishing eagerness, even forcing the U.S. Mint to ration popular bullion products in order to meet
overwhelming demand. After all, gold's value does not arise from its industrial applications but from its worldwide acceptance as a safe store of value.
As the public loses faith in debased paper currencies, the clamor for gold will increase exponentially. Also fueling demand are the world's central banks,
which in a major trend reversal have now become net buyers of gold instead of sellers. Expect central banks in China, India and Russia to fuel demand for gold.
Beijing not only is stocking up on gold as it divests itself of its dollar holdings but also is encouraging its increasingly affluent billions of citizens to
buy gold. And the creation of “paper gold” – the metal-based exchange-traded funds, which Blanchard and Company does not endorse because of
their inherent risks – has increased investment demand and buttressed the price of gold.

4. Reflation

Gold benefits from the cure for deflation, rather than from deflation itself. At some point, the market is going to get over its concerns about deflation and
become concerned about inflation – that will be the real inflection point for gold. The Federal Reserve, the European central banks, the Swiss national bank,
and the Bank of England have drastically increased their balance sheets. Huge amounts of money supply growth will be sending so much money sloshing through the
system that it will eventually generate a bad case of inflation. Though inflation isn’t apparent today, stimulus packages and bailouts mean much more money
in the system, which is classically inflationary. Historically low U.S. interest rates, U.S. dollar weakness, and the longer-term inflationary pressures of the
Federal Reserve throwing trillions of dollars at the U.S. economy make the environment favorable for gold and other tangible assets. Of the major assets, only
Treasuries and gold have escaped the selling panic that has gripped the markets. Rushes on gold have caused mints around the world to run out of popular gold coins.
Because of the inflationary impact of government bailouts, analysts think that when gold reaches $1,500 it will be the floor, not the ceiling.

5. The Dollar

The dollar has benefited from the global flight from risky assets, as well as the unwinding of bets made with borrowed dollars. That has come as a surprise to many
who expected that increased government spending and a collapsing U.S economy would cripple the dollar. In the longer term, the dollar’s health remains dependent
upon foreigners’ appetite for U.S. assets, which will decline as the economy falters and the government continues to inject additional liquidity. Dollar weakness,
plentiful liquidity and policy reflation will be persistent themes in the future. Massive fiscal and monetary stimulus has weakened the dollar, whose current resurgence
stem mainly from the European debt crisis. Once that crisis rears its head in the debt-burdened United States, the dollar's weakness as a currency will be evident to all,
and its role as the world's reserve currency will be in jeopardy.

Gold Prices: Expect a New Breakout

We expect to see a new breakout in gold prices once the dollar softens more decisively and once reflationary policies gain economic traction.
The current gold price indicates that U.S. monetary and fiscal policy is finally getting ahead of the deflation curve. Liquidity conditions will be easier
and easier as the year progresses – part of the fight to support the economy and reduce deflationary pressures. Such conditions are consistent with
higher gold prices, and we expect to see gold prices continue to rise, with a breakout to $1,500 becoming a new floor.
SOURCE: http://www.blanchardonline.com/gold_as_investment/gold_rise.php

The Coming Depression: Barney Frank: U.S. Government Default Likely

2011-05-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

The Coming Depression: Barney Frank: U.S. Government Default Likely

TASTE IT MY WAY: TASTE IT MY WAY Reviews: "Miami Culinary Tours" ---> SOBE!

2011-05-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

TASTE IT MY WAY: TASTE IT MY WAY Reviews: "Miami Culinary Tours" ---> SOBE!

Buried Treasure......Where To Look

2011-05-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

Buried treasure isn't just a pipe dream of treasure hunters........
People bury things every day and forget about them or die. Here are some of the places to start looking: An example of buried treasure?
As a young man I buried 100 ounces of silver under my parents house. There was a crawl space that could be accessed from the basement.
I pulled the plastic back that covered the dirt, and roughly five feet out from the west and south walls dug a hole.
I put my plastic container with it's ten ten-ounce bars of silver into it, covered it up and left it there for years.
Did I tell anyone where it was, or even that I had buried it? Of course not! The point of hiding things is so nobody knows where they are, right? By the way,
I have long since dug the silver up and sold it, and keep my money in the bank now instead of the ground.

However, what if I had died while I still had this buried treasure under my parents house?
My guess is that it would be at least a couple hundred years before anyone found the silver. there was no reason for anyone to be digging under that part of the house.

There was also no way for anyone to know they should be looking. The obvious question arises: How many people have died and how many die every year without ever telling a soul about their hidden money or buried treasures? Many. The treasury department estimates that billions in currency alone has "disappeared" in recent years. Where is it all? Here are some of the places to start looking. Places To Find Buried Treasure - Under rocks in highway rest areas. There are many reports of criminals and drug dealers to burying large amounts of cash under rocks in the woods at highway rest areas. Hide the evidence, get sent to jail, and what if he never comes out? Treasure hunting time! - Under the edge of cement slabs. Look for sagging or cracked cement where the ground might have been loosened up. - In old pump houses. People used to hide things in the pump houses, in the ground underneath, and even inside of pipes that connect to nothing. - Caches buried near signs. The point was to have a way to remember where the treasure was buried. - In hotel rooms. Hotel owners report that cheating spouses on business trips hide their rings before going out for the evening, and then forget them. Look under mattresses, on top of light fixtures, and behind pictures. - In rivers, especially next to bridges. Criminals and kids throw things off bridges to hide them quickly. I have seen several bicycles laying in the bottoms of rivers, and I hear that guns are a common find. - Inside old books. This has been a common place to hide money for years. - Inside walls, usually by outlet covers. An outlet cover usually has just one screw to remove, and you might se something by shining a flashlight inside the wall. - Buried under rocks in backyards. The rock is for remembering where the buried treasure is, and backyards are more common because the person is less likely to be seen burying something here. Have you ever hidden anything? Do you have anything hidden now? If you wanted to hide money or other valuables, where would you put it? You can understand how things get buried and forgotten. Now start to think like the person who hides things, and you're ready to search for buried treasure. Article written by Steve Gillman - Posted at www.articlesfactory.com

6 Good reasons to own gold coins or gold bars

2011-05-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

1. Gold is a real, physical asset that you own.
We all like to own assets. Some, like cars, depreciate as soon as we buy them. Others, like property and land generally rise in price although, as we all know, there are downturns in property values from time to time.

But the attraction of any physical asset is that it is real and in your ownership. It is yours and you can touch it.

It’s the same with gold. When you buy a gold coin it is yours and in your possession. It is a physical asset. This physical ownership of gold becomes particularly important in times of dramatic economic reversals.

As an asset, gold is independent of countries, governments, currencies or credit worthiness.

2. Gold protects you again sudden market fluctuations.

A significant proportion of North Americans own shares, in one form or another. Perhaps through their company retirement funds or personally held retirement savings plans.

Investing for our retirement is a good idea. But our money is vulnerable to the ups and downs of the market. Of course, as individuals we have no control over market fluctuations. When the markets go up, we are pleased, even though we did nothing to make it happen. When markets go down, we bite our nails and hope for the best.

But sometimes markets literally crash. It happens at least once in most lifetimes. And a market crash can lead to the loss of all your savings, literally. If all your money is tied up in investments, you could lose every penny.

But gold is not susceptible to stock market fluctuations in the same way. In fact, when things go south on the stock markets the value of gold generally rises.

A stash of gold is a great thing to have in the event of a crashing economy.

3. Gold protects you against inflation.

Inflation is the great destroyer of personal wealth. High inflation can dramatically reduce the value of the dollar, euro or yen in your pocket. Last month a dollar might buy you a loaf of bread. Next month, in the case of hyper-inflation, that loaf of bread might cost ten dollars or a hundred dollars.

Again, when inflation strikes, the value of gold tends to rise. Gold is the great balancer. It’s the safe haven. When traditional assets and investments are decimated, the value of your gold will usually rise.

Of course, things never work out quite as neatly as we might like. While gold has done a good job at being a haven for your wealth in times of inflation in the past, that doesn't mean it will always be that way.

As with all markets, the gold market is nothing if not surprising.

4. Gold can never be “lost” or debased by your employer or the government.
Governments can make all kinds of unilateral decisions that result in the debasement of your money. Your money can be devalued overnight, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Companies which manage retirement funds can behave unpredictably or even fraudulently. We all know of companies which have gone bankrupt, leaving employees past and present with no money in their investment savings.

Unless you have a remarkable level of trust in your government and employer, you might want to buy some gold. With gold in hand, you always have an option. You always have some money at hand.

5. Gold is easy to buy and takes up almost no space to store.
There are now many places where you can buy gold over the internet. Most have a few extra safeguards in place, so it won’t be quite as easy as buying a book on Amazon. But you can find a dealer online, and place your order at any time. Once your payment has cleared, your gold will be shipped to your home.

Once you have your gold in hand, it’s time to store it. How you do that is up to you. Remember, you can own tens of thousands of dollars in gold and store them in a very small space.

6. You can cash in your gold with no penalty at times of emergency.
If you suddenly need cash in a hurry, you can take one or more gold coins down to a dealer in your town or city and redeem them for cash on the spot. It’s not like selling shares or digging into a savings account. There are no penalties for selling gold, and the transaction can be completed in the time it takes to get to a dealer.

Guide To Successful Gold Hunting / Prospecting Tips

2011-05-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

Guide to successful gold hunting, some tips to help gold prospectors find more gold in the field. Use these commonsense tips and guidance notes to deliver for you, more results when outprospecting. Preparation is the key. If you prepare well and keep a positive mental attitude, you are much more likely to become much more successful whilst gold hunting and/or prospecting for gold. Please read on to find out more.

If you want to become a lot more successful at gold prospecting or gold nugget prospecting, the first thing to realise is that good research can make your job a lot easier whilst out in the field. Widespread internetavailability today makes your research a whole lot easier and there is a great deal of information out there that you can search for. Another good resource of information is the local library in the area where you plan to go gold prospecting. Another aspect not to overlook is research via old books on the subject or even the diaries of old gold miners if you can find these. All of these avenues will eventually turn up for you, some awesome information and greatly increase your chances of finding a spot where you can find worthwhile deposits of gold that will be worth your time, locating and finding for yourself.

What else can you do?

Try finding old newspapers, old bulletins and geologicalbooks about mining, especially for gold. Geological maps can also help you in your search and you should be able able to find these too, via your local state university, another option. There is an old saying which goes along the lines of, 'To find gold, go where gold has already been found'. So, try and find out where the placer workings were located, and try to find spots that others might have overlooked. Also contact governmental agencies in the area where you intend to prospect as all these avenues will assist you in your such to one degree or another. Also contact any geology and prospecting clubs or associations in the area where you intend to start prospecting and don't be afraid to ask of those members questions relevant to the subject, remember, most people like to talk about subjects which they have a passion for and sometimes depending on the circumstances, they may give you some really good pointers on good places to prospect for gold.

Remember also to always make sure that in the area where you intend to start your gold prospecting that you have in advance all the required permissions from the land owner and don't be surprised if s/he is very annoyed with you, if you do not seek this permission first. It is polite and common courtesy to ask first. Again preparation is key. Driving long distances only to find out the land status does not permit gold prospecting can be very disheartening. If you do your research in advance, many of these kind of problems can be overcome which will aid vastly to your overall enjoyment whilst prospecting for gold nuggets out in the field.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com Mark P Andrews

How To Dig For Fossils and Gemstones

2011-05-13T15:09:00.001-07:00

How to Dig for Fossils and Gemstones

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Digging for your own fossils, gemstones, or other artifacts is fun, educational, and good exercise.

Steps

Know where to go to dig for treasure. The United States, for example, is rich in natural resources, but you need to find a place where its permissible to dig.
Contact your area's department of parks, outdoors, nature or recreation. (It should be called something like this. Try a Google search.) They may be able to point you to resources.
Get a permit to dig, but understand you will need to pay for it. In other cases, you may need to pay for what you take (charge is usually by the pound, but it's much cheaper than buying the same stones in a shop!).
Research your home area's geology, or the geology of the area where you plan to dig. Know what kind of stuff you are looking for. The more you know, the better your chances of finding something good.
Some things to look for, depending on where you live: garnets, sapphires, agate, petrified wood, opal, diamonds, gold, silver, geodes, quartz, jasper, thundereggs, fossils, soapstone, or arrowheads. (Yes, all these things can be found in various parts of America!)
Places where you can dig for interesting rocks are, naturally, mostly out in the middle of nowhere. Be prepared for a long drive and an all-day expedition, at least. Camping for a few days might be even better.
Know your alternatives to expensive prospecting tools. Prospecting tools are expensive. Rather than investing in a whole set for your first time out, you can rent them, or find a friend who digs as a hobby that you can borrow equipment from. Better yet, invite the hobbyist along and share your strength in exchange for their expertise! Rock and mineral shows are good places to meet people. Check for clubs in your area, too.

Tips

Don't go prospecting if you have small children, unless you're just out for fun and you're not taking it too seriously. The tools and equipment are dangerous for young children, they get tired easily, and it's hard to supervise them while you're digging or panning.
Pack lots of food. Prospecting is hungry work.
Wear sunscreen and a hat. You'll be spending all day in the sun and you are at risk of sunburns and heat injuries.
The probability of "striking it rich" is very low. If getting something valuable out of the ground were easy, the place would probably already be a huge industrial mine. Just make it your goal to enjoy yourself and have fun. But the possibility of a lucky find is there!

Warnings

Never dig in a state or national park unless you are absolutely sure it's allowed. If you dig holes where you're not supposed to, you will ruin the beauty of the park for other people, and you also risk fines or even jail time as punishment.
Know the signs of dehydration, and watch for them. If somebody suffers a heat injury, get them to rest in the shade and give them fluids.
As with any outdoor excursion, you should know some basic first aid before you go, and take some simple medical supplies with you, such as ice and bandages.
If you find human bones where you're digging, stop and call the police. You might have stumbled on evidence of a murder, or an archaeological site.

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