Abstract:

Worldwide, gold production has hardly budged in the past decade. It’s not for lack of demand. Gold may not fuel economies the way oil does, but gold for jewelry—its primary use—has been much in demand, and that demand will likely increase. Investors’ interest could be intense for years longer. But to judge by the mining industry’s modest success of late in finding new deposits of gold, production will not be much higher in the next decade. Miners and analysts agree that most of the easy-to-find, easy-to-develop gold has been found. To discover still-hidden deposits and at least maintain production, let alone increase it, miners will need continued high or even higher gold prices, revolutionary new technology, and the cooperation of often reluctant host countries.

Source: Science

My thoughts? We’ll find out in a few days or so. In the past, these kinds of drops were coupled with big fund selling, which wasn’t disclosed until some time after the fact.

With that said, there was some disappointment after Bernanke put a damper on hopes for QE3. I think gold buyers got ahead of themselves (especially after yesterday’s weak data) by expecting some sort of announcement today.

No, really?

James J Puplava interviews Silver Wheaton CEO Randy Smallwood

“Randy expects growth in silver production to advance by 70% and the dividend payout to triple by the fourth quarter of this year.”