The Gold Economy

A modern day gold rush in a remote corner of Cambodia is the new target of foreign mining giants, Sapa reports.

The area, known as the “Gold Forest”, has already seen hundreds of local prospectors arrive in search of the precious metal. Currently the Gold Forest is a hand-dug mine close to the village of O’Clor in the northeast province of Mondulkiri.

Locals are said to be able to fetch about $12.50 per day here, which compared to the less than a dollar a day that a third of the population makes, is a significant income.

However… Continue reading

“I keep on accumulating gold,” says renowned investor Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report.

Gold almost returned to where it started off this week, with the US dollar gold price falling 1.3 percent on Thursday compared to the previous session, hitting $1538 per ounce. Silver prices also fell back below the $36 per ounce mark, slightly below its starting off price at the beginning of the week.

This came as US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke made no special reference to the QE3 – a third round of quantitative easing – while holding a press… Continue reading

While gold fell as much as 2 percent in Thursday trading, Friday saw the precious metal steadying thanks to a softer dollar and a strengthening of the euro following the announcement that Greece had won approval for its five-year austerity plan.

Nevertheless, following a commodity-wide rout, bullion is now headed for its worst week since the beginning of May this year, as a result of the steep losses experienced on Thursday which were made worse by the stronger dollar.

The euro bounced back in Asia after news that Greece has come to an agreement with international lenders over… Continue reading

Greek Prime minister won the vote of confidence on midnight Tuesday, at a time when other markets were closed, while most analysts are predicting an inevitable default by Greece at some point.

Yesterday saw Greek Prime Minister Papandreou winning the vote of confidence from his parliament. Analysts are now awaiting the outcome of next week’s discussions on the second round of austerity measures, and the subsequent implementation of the measures, which is accompanied by the fire sale of Greek public assets.

Experts are agreeing more and more that Greece is simply unable to repay its debt, leaving the… Continue reading