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Would I be correct in assuming that a large % of the MSHA employees and/or inspectors have most likely never worked in a mine 1 day of their lives?
They should hire retired miners to perform their inspections and verdicts. My guess is that in reality it is probably academic types that learned their trade from a classroom and books – maybe a field trip to look at an open pit mine from a distance…
They will no doubt stay as long as it takes in order to find a violation, just to make up for the long drive up to the mine from wherever their offices are.
Common sense dictates that mining is inherently dangerous. So is logging – I chased landing under a Skycrane that came in with a new turn every 98-120 seconds. This same chopper later crashed in the bottom of the canyon where we worked! Before I arrived on the job a faller with 25+ years of experience was trapped on a side-hill under a log with a broken pelvis, leg, ankle, and ribs. With a workplace environment like this (or down in the mine), you almost expect something bad to happen. Most likely, you are prepared to handle it, and be ready for it. It is the nature of the work itself – mining, logging, or offshore fishing in Alaska, which creates the dangerous environment. Bad things will still happen despite rigorous safety training, proper equipment, and never-ending work on making the site itself safer. The regulators’ approach is akin to me blaming the road (or my car) if I hit a deer and got into a car accident…
How many mine accidents across the country have occurred immediately after a clean or zero citation MSHA inspection? (If such an MSHA inspection exists).
Answer to WK below: Yes. Two men died from accidents in the mine. Eighty or more years ago a miner fell and died from his injury. On November 6, 2000 a tragic accident took the life of Lead Miner Mark Fussell. Mark ‘s accident resulted from a brain lapse while on the 1700 level. MSHA took extreme measures to concoct a story blaming the Mancha Locomotive he was operating as the root cause. The lead investigator, Steve Cain, fabricated a report and none of the management questioned its authenticity (an easy task to perform). Why did MSHA do this?
During our last inspection the inspector brought up root cause analysis. I spoke up as he drifted off track. Most accidents result from inattention by the miner. Let’s call it a ‘brain fart’. Until our hazardous environment and dangerous work place is properly reviewed during an inspection or accident, the miners’ health and safety will be compromised. MSHA needs to get this right!
A few years ago a young Sixteen to One miner dies from his car accident on Highway 49. It was sad and also tragic. Fault was not his car or another. He just lost his focus, something that happens from time to time.
My greatest concern during last week’s visit from the feds was their safety. I told them so at the outset. Neither was physically prepared to travel in our mine. We continue to be regulated by people without the required background, experience and training.
Would I be correct to speculate that more Sixteen to One miners have died or been injured in their cars than in the mine?
See entry on 8/18/2015.
Then please use your common sense and imagination to add descriptions for me to present at a conference with federal regulators regarding Sixteen to One mine. Even if you have never been underground go ahead with adjectives and nouns. Use your imagination. Others do. I want your views.
The crew just finished a week long inspection where our normal was seen as creating unsafe work environment (something that regularly happens with MSHA regulators employed to help miners with safety and health. I was handed four citations marked serious and substantial, the worst kind of evaluation. None of the miners could believe the citations represented the Sixteen to One. All these must be vacated.
How to explain to MSHA? What I will send MSHA district office:
“Sixteen to One mine topography is not discrete or separate in its underground surfaces. The mine workings are in a hazardous environment underground and will always be treated as such. All people entering the underground are given instructions about the conditions they will encounter. It is a hazardous and dangerous place, especially for person with infrequent experience.
The hazards include but not limited to: irregularities in shape, size, composition, slipperiness, height, duration of awkwardness, unfamiliarity, low light, headroom, loose rock, ( please add some more things to beware of when underground in a mine). A person may slip, fall, scrape the body, trip, bump one’s head, (please add some more things). This is for real and not a joke.”
Thanks. Comment here or to my email mmeistermiller@gmail.com
Hello Mike, sorry to here about the poor qualifications of the mine inspectors. you say you have had poor results with contact to your Congressman. The way you can handle this is to write the speaker of the house about your lack of support from your representative. I do it all the time, My representative is a democrat, and he and I do not liike each other very much. So to get around his inconsideration I write the Speaker John Boehner. He will help you.
Right now our mine has two Authorized Representatives of the US Secretary of Labor (AR) underground. They are commonly called “mine inspectors”. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 was passed by Congress for the benefit of miners as well as to benefit the general welfare of American citizens. Mineral production is not a luxury. It is an essential to our lives.
Section 505, entitled Inspectors, Qualifications; Training says: persons appointed as authorized representatives of the Secretary shall be qualified by practical experience in mining or by experience as a practical mining engineer or by education: Provided, however, That to the maximum extent feasible, no person shall be so selected unless he has the basic qualification of at least five years practical mining experience…
I was disappointed that this would be the first underground mine experience of one AR. I was shocked to be told that this AR has never worked anywhere as a miner or in a mine. She is here to get some training and experience. In the pre-inspection conference I related how costly this has been for us in the past. Time wise the inspections are uncomfortably slow and tedious as the lead AR wants to explain every little crack to the newbie. Well, this was also the experienced first time underground at the Sixteen to One for the lead AR.
I thought we had a meeting of the minds until the lead miner and also miners’ representative assigned to show the ARs the mine called me around noon. He was frustrated because they had only traveled a short distance from the portal and a lot of teaching was taking place between the two ARs.
I got my hat and boots drove to the portal and headed underground, hoping to to advance the situation or find out why they were so slow. What I found was they had traveled no further and were still looking at cracks and ground support. Oh, I forgot, when I left the mine in the morning, I called the MSHA District office in Vacaville to register my complaints about the ongoing use of Sixteen to One as a training ground for inexperienced ARs. This AR has zero experience which is a first!
What can be done about a federal agency breaking the law and passing the expense of lost time on a small operator? This is my question to you. How can this governmental treatment be addressed? The district and field offices know this. It really isn’t their fault nor is it the fault of the ARs. Our industry cannot survive with continual enforcement by an unlawful regulatory agency. Writing my Congressional representatives gets no results.
The Act of 1977 clearly spells Congresses’ intent in Section 103c, which protects small businesses from an “unreasonable burden upon operators and unnecessary duplication of effort in obtaining information”. It is an epidemic! MSHA has killed the small mining operation and who knows but it may be hurting the big multinational operations as well.
This behavior does not benefit our miners or our country. Maybe if others got involved, we can turn this abusive and unlawful behavior around. Parallel with those who grow our food, farmers and ranchers, those who extract the vital minerals we must have to enjoy life, miners are under attack by an overt act of aggression. If you like to eat and like your car, bike computer or clothing, I would like your help. Ideas are good but if others can make more people aware of this lawlessness happening right now at the Sixteen to One, we can stop a growing epidemic.
With inquires about my post below, a follow up seems prudent.
The formal demands at the highest level of federal policy are out of touch with day to day operations of miners. The inspectors/investigators are encouraged to aggressively pursue hearsay evidence by this recent MSHA directive. Maybe it is required in the coal industry. Coal is vital to all Americans. Growing congestion on US railroads due to crude oil shipments is side-lining coal and worrying power producers nationwide. The fear is a reduction in power generators. I’m not familiar with the coal miners and their working situations. They most likely are not familiar with the underground gold miners, especially those few in California. Even though, my desire is to let them know that others in the mining world are not comfortable with MSHA going after hearsay opinions that will determine the outcome of an investigation.
When MSHA directs its inspectors to go after a particular area in the mining industry, the small operator and miners receive little or no benefit. Our mines do not resemble coal mines, yet the rules MSHA enforces (and how inspectors go about it) are best described as, “one shoe fits all feet).
America must correct this behavior or we will become extinct.Six weeks ago MSHA reissued its Procedure Instruction Letter “PIL” regarding inspectors investigating fatal accidents. The policy letter notes two changes. Both create more opportunities for inspectors to gather hearsay or secondary information from persons not at the accident scene. MSHA now encourages inspectors to “aggressively pursue interviews with witnesses (?) not on the mine site at the time of the accident”. This is a requirement placed on inspectors.
While this whole change of enforcement is somewhat troubling, this revision emphasizes the investigator approach family members to specifically seek potential hearsay evidence of “statements the victim gave to family members about safety issues at the workplace”. It also requires the accident team to create a Public Notice to encourage any person to contact MSHA with hearsay information related to the accident. MSHA will also consider this information as privileged, which prevents operators from learning the information until 48 hours before the MSHA hearing. The MSHA review commission now interprets Section 103(a) of the Mine Act of 1977 to require operators to turn over the home addresses and telephone number of miners to MSHA investigators.
Mining is a global industry. Mankind recognized the value of natural resources from the caveman to the astronaut. Those who fail to recognize this are fools. Ignorance of this necessary industry is the enemy of behavior. Following are some short clips about news you most likely will never hear or read.
Polish miners block Russian coal imports at border
More than 200 Polish miners blocked trains carrying Russian coal at a border passage in northern Poland to protest against the cheaper Russian coal being brought in at a time when local mines are struggling, mining union leaders said recently. Poland, which uses coal to generate about 90 percent of its electricity, produced 76.5 million tons in 2013. It exported 10.6 million tons but at the same time imported 10.8 million, mainly from Russia and the Czech Republic. Comment: USA coal use is the cleanest in the world. Coal industry is under attack in America.
Indonesia probe into deadly Freeport mining accident to take a week
Indonesia’s mining ministry expects an investigation into a deadly accident at Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s copper mine to take a week, and open-pit mining will not resume until its conclusion, a government official said. Freeport recently halted open-pit mining at its Grasberg copper mine, one of the world’s biggest, after a truck collision killed four. Comment: The open pit produces around 140,000 tons of copper ore per day and the underground puts out about 80,000 tons. Copper is necessary for communications, a very active pastime today. Few ever think about where or how this vital element appears for our benefit.
Gold price seen near tipping point for mine cuts, closures
The price of gold, down more than a third in three years, is approaching the tipping point where the mining industry would see a spike in the number of producers reducing output or even shutting down operations. Several mines globally have already suspended output in the past 18 months, but not as many as industry watchers expected as producers focused on slashing costs and reworking mine plans to extract more profitable, higher-grade ounces. Comment: I have trouble with this analysis. Gold traders pushed the prices beyond all reason near the $1900/ounce. Gold “analysts” participated in creating a false value, creating semi panic for those without gold, which created an ideal short play. Ignorance cost some nice people to lose value. The spot price quickly dropped. At the $1220/ounce range, spot price remains 50% greater than the 1980’s massacre (high of $800/ounce).
Gold demand outlook promising on lower prices, seasonality
The gold price is expected to languish for the rest of the year and test $1,200. For the year as a whole, the price is expected to average $1,270, which compares with the year-to-date average of $1,289. However, this decline may not benefit Indian consumers, as the rupee is forecast to average 61.4 against the dollar this year. This requires the rupee to average 62.3 over the next quarter. Comment: If you have Indian friends, ask them to explain their culture and the role of gold.
September 2, 2014
Dear Mr. Rice,The article you wrote regarding miners/ executives and price issues has merit; it tells one story but not the one I know. I entered the gold mining industry in October 1974, a couple of months before spot price controls were extinguished. I bought a mine in the Alleghany Mining District, the last active gold camp in California’s productive gold belt. I began mining in 1975. I also began a proxy fight to take over the second oldest gold mining company in the United States. Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. (incorporated 1911 in San Francisco) was second behind another California corporation Homestake Mining. I got enough shareholders to win a director seat in 1977 and enough proxies to vote in a new board in 1983. I became president.
I am a professional miner/executive with forty years of full time experiences in this unusual industry. There are topics that people like me rarely discuss publicly. My primary reasons for not being too concerned about the spot price vary; however what you did not mention is perhaps the most important. Spot prices are not driven by normal supply/demand economic standards. The market is a game played by the powerful. My understanding has resulted in the three really price runs since 1975, a date when the beginning of the modern gold rush began.
The prices were played beyond sustainability. We all knew it. Some took advantage by short selling or selling naked contracts. Some call it forward selling. Others never did this but sold gold when cash was required to operate as the directors saw fit. It will happen again. It always has. So, real miners/executives cannot fret about price swings. Go back and research how many public gold mining companies there were in the 1980’s, 1090’s, 2000 and today. Take a look how few remain over the past thirty or forty years. You may find more food for your thoughts. And for the heck of it, check out how many shares are outstanding.
Miners/executives (not all of them and not enough) do fight back. Yes, a “travesty of justice is being committed.” Gold mining could stand some closer looks by independent journalists/analysts. Most are afraid of what they will see in their reflection. Please write or check out our informational web site at origsix.com. Sadly, Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. is now the oldest company and the longest gold mine operator in the United States.
Bill Rice JR. article is found at : http://www.silverdoctors.com/why-wont-the-miners-fight-back/
Most people cannot understand the compounding effect that has befallen on California due to the enforcement of its political leader’s actions or inaction. Most people cannot comprehend that those elected public servants have place a bureaucracy to enforce their laws incapable of applying common sense. Common sense!
Californians let their government fall to special interest rhetoric. This rhetoric feeds on fear, fear instilled by untruths and self-preservation by public servants paid to carry forth the public’s work “for the public benefit”. California received an “F-“ grade , not an “F” for poor treatment of small business. Yes, that is an F minus. Can it get any worse? Of course it can. Can this pessimistic, non-economic and scientific exercise in public service management be turned around? Of course it can.
Are you interested? Will you help?
My friend [see entry below] thought Californians and Americans should keep getting facts like this. His letter to me follows mine. The subject is another costly and unneeded regulation. Read it before you read this July 15, 2014 email from Sierra County. What do you think? Good old Thomas Henry Huxley wrote it best:
Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the rejection of authority. Peter, Paul and Mary sang, “when will we ever learn, when will we ever learn”.
July 15, 2014
Mike Miller,
As a follow-up to our conversation at the Sierra Fund lunch in Downieville, I mentioned that when CalEPA did an audit of our CUPA program here in Sierra County, they said that we were not regulating all of our facilities. They specifically identified the Sixteen to One Mine as not being included as a CUPA Facility and also the Agricultural Handlers (Farmers, Ranchers). I need to submit another CUPA evaluation follow-up report at the end of this month indicating progress on compliance with regulating our facilities in Sierra County. Therefore, I need to make arrangements meet with you & include the Sixteen to One Mine on our CUPA inventory and make sure that your hazardous materials inventory is updated in the new statewide electronic database (California Environmental Reporting System, or CERS).The Business Plan program was established in 1986. Its purpose is to prevent or minimize the damage to public health and safety and the environment, from a release or threatened release of hazardous materials. It also satisfies community right-to-know laws. This is accomplished by requiring businesses that handle hazardous materials in quantities equal to or greater than: 55 gallons of a liquid, 500 pounds of a solid, 200 cubic feet of compressed gas, or extremely hazardous substances above the threshold planning quantity (40 CFR, Part 355, Appendix A) to:
Inventory their hazardous materials
Develop site map
Develop an emergency plan
Implement a training program for employeesBusinesses Must Report Electronically to CERS (California Environmental Reporting System, or CERS) instead of on paper forms.
Website link: http://cers.calepa.ca.gov/
What is CERS?
The California Environmental Reporting System (CERS) is a statewide web-based system to support California Unified Program Agencies (CUPAs) and Participating Agencies (PAs) in electronically collecting and reporting various hazardous materials-related data as mandated by the California Health and Safety Code and new 2008 legislation (AB 2286). Under oversight by Cal/EPA, CUPAs implement Unified Program mandates that streamline and provide consistent regulatory activities. Could you be available to meet with me on Tuesday, July 22, 2014 in the afternoon? Thanks.
Elizabeth Morgan, MPH, REHS Director of Environmental Health
Sierra County Environmental Health P.O. Box 7 Loyalton, CA 96118
(530) 993-6716 emorgan@sierracounty.ca.gov (New E-mail Address 4-25-2014)ALERT
Last Sunday the Sacramento Bee published an article about the best and worse states for small business in America. Five states received an F grade: Illinois, Hawaii, Vermont, Rhode Island and California (F-). Excessive governmental regulations were the primary reason. It seemed correct to me, based on what I (Mike and I are old friends)read about agencies headquartered in Sacramento. Is it a malaise of blanket over rules? Or could it be specifically directed at producers? Or is it focused on gold mines? Or is it designed to control or conduct the affairs of Original Sixteen to One Mine?It would take some self-narcissistic wacko to think some small gold mining company would draw the attention of governments’ well paid authoritative public servants to order, instruct and command a lowly Sierra County Director of Environmental Health to drive another spike into the heart of such inconsequential business. Why would California pick on the Sixteen to One business? But think again.
I just hung up the phone after calling Michael Miller, president of this inconsequential gold mining company. He is not a wacko yet his intensity about a call he received shortly before my call shook me to write him this letter. He can put it on his website or not. Mike, you must.
Mike told about a call from Elizabeth Morgan, Sierra County environmental Health. She said that 5 guys drove up to Quincy and ordered her to drive up to meet them. They specifically asked why the Sixteen to One mine was not in her California Environment Reporting System. One told her to get the Sixteen to One. No other mines were targeted or mentioned. She called to “get us regulated”. She wanted to drive to Alleghany to do an inspection. Mike said mines are heavily inspected and he didn’t have spare time. She faces demands from State regulators to get it done. She said the fed EPA was demanding this. Mike questioned was this driven by California or federal regulators. She didn’t know. After a lively conversation, she said she would send him an email explaining. (Mike, copy the email you read me for the internet). This appears to be California driven.
Lynwood WestYou must check this out. One of the Sixteen’s biggest shareholders is being honored this week in Austin Texas. You will read about this event at the following web site.
http://optionsconference.com/agenda/sullivan-award/
Blair and Mike were class mates at UCSB, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers and longtime friends. Blair deserves this award, so go read about his accomplishments.
Do you remember that dark day in 1987, when the stock markets were free falling? Panic is not the word for those witnessing that day. Something happened that changed the course of history and saved the markets and the country from collapse. As the sell-off continued unabated, desperation would be how to describe it. Someone began buying. Someone stopped the collapse and serious despair that hung over the money market. Someone stepped forward in the midst of the crisis. It was Blair Hull, who began placing buy orders. This fact is not widely known but Blair deserves much more than the facts stated to the Sullivan award he receives this week. Check it out.
Thanks, Michael! You won’t believe my stupidity. I was searching for a “News index” on KNCO’s website! No wonder I was having trouble!
Great interview, though! Like I said earlier today on the “Clips” thread, I think we have reason to be encouraged. Your interview only reinforced that encouragement. Things are looking up both in the mining industry in general and at the Original Sixteen To One as well!
Regards,
Fred M. CainUnder the original sixteen to one mine logo and date (to your left)is the index for the website. Second down is “News”. It takes you to the shortcut for KNCO interview.
Mike,
What “New index” would that be? I’m having a terrible time trying to find this. Nor can I find an e-mail contact for KNCO.
If you can find the interview, could you post the URL on the forum? I really would like to listen to it.
Regards,
Fred M. CainThere is a short cut for you to listen to the radio interview on KNCO. The station called with an invitation to talk about the closed forever position announced this month of the Empire Mine Adit Project. It raised objections among many familiar with the idea to offer underground tours of this iconic gold mine. The stated reasons given by State Park Director Anthony Jackson made no sense (I was the project contractor and our miners excavated the adit.
I refused a request to come on the radio eight months ago but now was an “Ideal Time for Facts”. The commercials have been erased. If you can find the time for some radio, go to the News index and click on the address.
Regarding Fred’s thoughts on the article below: Angela Kean’s article seems marked by sophomoric assumptions or assertions of learning. I don’t believe that serious producing gold miners manage that way. Ones product price certainly is a factor, but this reporting is reoccurring financial adviser talk. Most gold producers are long term players. The short term “gold companies” are mostly stock promotion orientated.
The World Gold Council offers reliable data for mulling when it comes to forecasting the future of gold. I learned a lesson from one of our great directors. Years ago Lee Erdahl answered my question of how to reply when someone asks me about spot price of gold. “Mike”, he said, “A truthful reply is to say, one thing I know for sure is it will either go up or go down.” I have followed his sage advise.
The five statement below by the World Gold Council suggest stability. The demand from the technology sector support a spike up (demand). The contraction in recycling due to lower average prices (supply) supports up ticks as well. Of course we are happy with ever increasing prices; however we have managed to stay operating during the lowest lows and the highest highs since 1974. When the Sixteen to One mine slowed to a crawl between 1966 and 1974, the fixed price was the determining factor. The mine did not exhaust its gold production possibility.
From the World Gold
CounselQ3 Jewelry demand up 5% as lower prices encourage shift to higher caratage
Demand for higher carat jewelry was seen across most regions, blurring the line between jewelry and investment. This contributed to global jewelry demand of 487t up 5% year-on-year.
Demand for gold bars and coins grows 6% in Q3 2013; ETF redemptions slow
Q3 was another mixed quarter for gold investment. Bars and coin demand increased to 304t in Q3, up 6% year-on-year. ETF outflows slowed to 119t, as most tactical redemptions took place in Q2.
Robust technology demand, supported by lower prices, up 1% in Q3 2013
Demand for gold from the technology sector saw a modest gain in the third quarter, reaching 103t. This was driven by lower prices and improved economic conditions.
Central banks bought 93t of gold in Q3 2013, reserves up almost 300t year-to-date
Official reserves grew by 93t in Q3, the eleventh consecutive quarter of net purchases. This demand continued to be dominated by central banks from the emerging markets.
The supply of gold in Q3 totaled 1,145t, 3% lower than the same period in 2012
Modest 4% growth in mine production during the quarter was outweighing by an 11% contraction in recycling, as lower average prices failed to attract sellers.
Michael,
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the “low-grade” mines usually open pit that involve processing thousand and thousands of tons of material at a time with chemicals while the “high-grade” mines tend to be deeper, underground mines that often use tracks? Is that right? I’m not sure that the “high-grading” discussed in this article is necessarily a bad thing but I don’t know. Can you shed some more light on this?
-Fred M. Cain
I want you to read the article below that I received today. It is full of speculative opinions, which many interpret as facts. This troubles me since I am a gold producer and deal with every issue of management responsibilities. See if any of my concerns about ‘word play’ and credibility also strike you. The article is written by Angela Kean in the October 30,2013 issue of SNL Metals Economic Group West Edition of Metals & Mining.
“Gold miners tempted to ‘high-grade’ to weather downturn
By Angela KeanThe seemingly never-ending volatility in the gold price has forced miners to do whatever they can to weather the slump, from cutting workers to shelving or selling projects, but some gold miners are turning to a solution known as high-grading,” which could do more harm than good in the long term. The high-grading method involves mining only the highest-grade ore and leaving low-grade ore in the ground. Sprott Private Wealth LP investment adviser Michael Kosowan likens it to the phrase “take the best and leave the rest.”
This becomes somewhat appealing to struggling gold miners as it can give them a quick cash boost in times of low gold prices and high costs. One analyst told SNL financial that a company may have no choice but to resort to high-grading during a downturn, especially if low-grade ore is uneconomic. “Usually the longer the gold price remains depressed, the more likely that more miners will abandon lower grade ore and revisit their mine plan/reserves to mine higher-grade material,” he said. “Losing, or not making sufficient, cash flow as each month passes just becomes too painful to investors.” In his address to the Toronto Resource Investment Conference in mid-September, Kosowan said the industry’s response to recent challenges has led to an even “graver” future. “When a miner deviates from the original mine plan, which was intended for mining the entire deposit, it becomes much more expensive to later change the mine plan in order to capture the rest of the deposit,” he said “
Second Quarter 2013 in summary from World Gold Council
Gold jewelry demand rises 37% in Q2 2013, led by Indian and Chinese consumers
Lower gold prices generated a surge in global jewelry demand to 575.5t, the highest volume for five years. In value terms demand was 20% higher than Q2 2012.
Sizeable ETF outflows countered by record bar and coin demand of 508t in Q2 2013
The fall in gold prices led to record demand for gold bars and coins of 507.6t, up 56% in value terms to US$23bn. However, this was mitigated by well-documented outflows from ETFs.
Technology gold demand saw a marginal increase, up 1% in Q2 2013
Demand for gold in the technology sector in Q2 2013 increased by 1% to 104.3t. Price declines and improvements in economic conditions provided a boost to demand from the electronics segment.
Central bank gold purchases slowed in Q2 2013, remain within 70-160 ton range
Central banks added 71.1t of gold to official reserves in Q2 2013, marking the tenth consecutive quarter of net purchases but 57% down on the previous year.
Total supply shrank 62 tons in Q2 2013, driven by 21% decrease in recycling
While Q2 2013 mine production saw a 4% increase year-on-year, the significant reduction in recycling by consumers during the quarter led to the 6% decrease in total supply.
Michael and all…a short comment in view of the post below…I’m adding a few additional assets to your list:
Optimism,
Potential,
Pride in ownership,
Vision unobscured by crap,
Constitutional perspective,
Success despite the effers,
No worrries about truck dents,
Smiles,
Endurance,
Underground and above vision,
A good stack of firewood,
Faith in wisdom we know,
And the optimism to share,
Wisdom to call “deep”,
Wisdom to seek,
Wisdom to challenge adversity,
Wisdom to see it!!!Now that, my friends, is true!
A new report by the World Gold Council examines the growing trend of central banks’ actively looking to diversify their reserve portfolios. While the dollar is still the primary global currency, its long-term dominance is less certain. In response, central banks are reducing allocations to US dollars and euros while increasing purchases of traditional assets such as gold and Japanese yen and new alternatives including Chinese renminbi.
The official reserves of global central banks have grown from $2 trillion in 2000 to more than $12 trillion in 2012. During this same twelve-year period the data shows significant shifts away from the US dollar while the share of “other” currencies in reserve composition has tripled in absolute terms since 2008.
Gold has a long history as a reserve asset for central banks, and as such is considered a traditional one. Gold is statistically uncorrelated with other traditional reserves and new alternatives, making it one of the most important assets for diversifying out of the US dollar and euro. In line with this trend, central bank gold buying in the fourth quarter of 2012 marked the eighth consecutive quarter of net purchases by the official sector and the highest level since 1964.
Gold’s deep liquidity is attributed to its global nature and its role as both a currency and an asset with multiple uses. While some treat gold as a item to trade, a minority think of gold as an asset to hold. Therein rests a key difference when gold investing is a topic of conservation.
Personally, I have no euros or yuans (the division of legal tender in China). I do have dollars and gold but my greatest asset is ownership in Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. It is my reserve asset: real estate, timber, gold and valuable subtleties not included on a balance sheet. So, if global central banks are accumulating gold as part of their reserve portfolios, it means more to the economy than the hype one reads or hears. Gold just won’t go away no matter how or who blasts its worth.
Two articles published in California’s oldest weekly newspaper were placed in the NEWS
heading on the left side of the website today. The “Sixteen to One Optimistic” article
hit the front page. “Losing Sight of the Goals” was prominently placed on the back page.Comments or questions are appreciated on the FORUM.
Good points below. Seems that a lot of people must have not ever heard of Bre-X, or, most likely, were greedy. Greed is the cause of many bad decisions.
I just read Mike’s recent post pointing out the meager $50K fine for the fraud-master of stealing millions from dummies who invested their $$$s in scheme rather than reality….the oldest gold-trick in the book. WAKE UP!
Three HUGE questions emerge:
1) Why do people fall for this crap, lose their money, watch slap-hand judication and watch the fraudsters laugh their way back to their bank-accounts while true high-grade gold-mining assets with true potential and historic record production languish with no bites?
2) Why are not the fraudsters adjudicating previous (and this one cited in the previous topic post) frauds not themselves exposed for raping private enterprise attempts with true objectives? (HINT: courts themselves don’t look in the mirror…otherwise they’d have a major problem with appointments, who would have a major problem with…..etc, etc, etc….)
3) Where are the investors with deep knowledge, those of us with backbones worthy to challenge and see through the public-sector fraud, willing to watch this amazing potential explode?
SOME RECENT REPORTS WITH GOLD AS THE CENTRAL TOPIC
SEC files fraud charges against California-based gold miner (January 3, 2013): The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed fraud charges against a California-based mining company and its CEO who induced hundreds of investors to pour $16 million into a fruitless gold mining venture. The SEC alleges that Nekekim Corporation and Kenneth Carlton defrauded investors with representations that a special “complex ore” found at Nekekim’s mine site in Nevada contained gold deposits worth at least $1.7 billion. Carlton highlighted test results produced by two small labs that used unconventional methods to test the ore for gold, but he withheld from investors other tests conducted by different firms that suggested the Nekekim mine site held little if any gold.
Carlton falsely represented to investors that a “physicist” who in reality had no scientific training helped develop a confidential gold extraction technique licensed by Nekekim. In one newsletter, he touted: “A NEW GOLD RECOVERY PROCESS IS SUCCESSFUL.” As each of these methods actually failed, Carlton’s reports grossly overstated Nekekim’s progress toward profitability while prompting shareholders to invest more money in the company.
Carlton, who lives in Clovis, Calif., agreed to a judgment requiring him to pay a $50,000 penalty and prohibiting him from selling securities for Nekekim or managing the company.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Doima, a small town in central Colombia to oppose a proposed AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) (JSE:ANG), gold processing plant for its 100% owned La Colosa project. Protesters were concerned that gold ore processing, which uses large amounts of water and requires chemicals, often including cyanide, would diminish and pollute local water supplies.
Australians are heavily opposed to foreign ownership of the country’s resource interests. Foreign ownership of Australia’s mining concerns is higher than they would prefer, and almost half of those surveyed were opposed to the recruitment of foreign labor by miners. The China-backed mining boom has had a disparate impact on Australia’s states.
ALLEGHANY OBSERVATIONS: $50,000 is a small price to pay for screwing investors out of $16
million. Were these investors stupid or greedy? It happens in Colombia,Indonesia,Africa,Australia and Asia where billions of start-up dollars go into the natural resources only to be confiscated by the governments or challenged by third parties. Does it happen in the USA? You bet it does: California’s water regulators, federal BLM in Nevada, frivolous environmental lawsuits. What does this mean to the economics of gold or other natural resources? Restricted supply in a rising demand business cycle.What an excellent reach back in history. The smart bankers have their stable of media puppets telling you same old story: don’t buy gold while they continue to manufacture paper crap for you as they secretly accumulate gold in their own private accounts. The bankers have robbed international treasuries through the past auctions along with their latest trick being the “we buy gold” stores at deep discounts from the public while they economically suffer. One of their biggest paid off parrots and destroyers of sovereign wealth is Gordon Brown when he sold most of England’s gold at about $275 an ounce in the early 2000’s and made the case for buying foreign currencies.
Don’t let these baffoons meddle with you mind. Your net worth will always be defined by how many ounces of gold it relates to or better yet, by how many ounces of gold you physically have in your possession.
I subscribed to the Economist to gain a global awareness. Like the joke I heard years ago about how the miners felt like a mushroom…kept in the dark and fed manure. Over the past decade a noticeable lack of articles about gold are published. The July 10th 2010 issue cover excited me with this: “Why gold has probably peaked.” Here are some excerpts I highlighted.
“Low returns on other investment and fears about the world economy have caused the price of gold to soar. Don’t count on its continued rise. Willem Buiter, a former professor at the London School of Economics who is now the chief economist of Citigroup has called gold the subject of ‘the longest lasting bubble in human history.’ He says that he would not invest more than a sliver of his wealth into something without intrinsic value, something whose positive value is based on nothing more than a set of self-confirming beliefs.” Gold was selling at a little below $1200 an ounce at the time of this article.
The concluding paragraphs of this three page article say: “All this suggests that the traditional markets for gold cannot be expected to pick up the slack if rich world investors’ appetite should fail. As long as the world economy remains uncertain and investors fear inflation and sovereign default, gold will keep its allure. Eventually, however, the price will weaken; it is even possible that the recent slide below $1200 marks the turn. And investors may look back on the bull run of 2009-10-or 2009-2011-with the sort of wonder that humanity has too often reserved for the yellow metal itself.”
The article yaks about three question vital to understanding the future prices of gold.: how long investors keep piling into gold; will jewelry demand pick up the slack; and how will supply respond if the price stays high. The writer(s) reflect on the first two but ignore production. If the World Gold Council’s numbers are correct, gold production is in decline. If aware geologists’ observations are correct, the troubles in South Africa, Peru, Indonesia and the high costs of getting a mine into production and keeping up with regulators’ opposition to mining continue, gold production may significantly decrease in the future.
I found the article interesting when read in July 2010, and find it as interesting to read today. Spot price of gold today was S1776 an ounce.
The article below was written by Jim Willie.
LIBOR LAWSUITS
The attorneys and aggrieved victims are lined up, as perhaps over 900 thousand lawsuits will come. That is how many adjustable rate mortgages were arranged from 2005 to 2009, with underwriting banks serving the complaints. The army of US legal beagles is on the job. The lost income to the victims is obvious. The lawsuits will eventually target the central banks. The fraud reaches into the $trillions easily, when all the derivatives are factored in. Think many $trillions in volume times small percentages skimmed illegally. The mainstream press carefully avoids such topics. Do a GOOGLE search of “municipal lawsuits LIBOR” to produce 21.1 million hits. This story will be gathering momentum for several months, and be in the headlines a year from now.
If we were to walk into a bank with intentions of stealing money and walked away with it the punishment would be jail time. Now the bankers can steal money by manipulating the Libor rate and just pay fines for their crimes and walk away?
In this morning’s NY Times article, “U.S. builds criminal cases over price fixing,” it states that civil and criminal actions “COULD” cost the banking industry tens of billions of dollars. Is anyone going to figure out how much all this stealing by the banks amounted to?
Since this is probably the biggest heist the banks have collectively pulled off in history one would think jail time for the individuals involved is fitting.
It seems the Justice Department has had an on-going investigation into Global rate fixing, looking closely into the dealings of more than 10 big banks in the U.S. and abroad. All will be forgotten soon as this type of drama repeats itself with the banksters, basically, always receiving the get out of jail card while the other law abiding players seem to always get nailed for their illegal reckless behavior.
The day will come when, as a result of a crisis, you will not be able to get your money on deposit with them. This is why they don’t control my destiny.
Check out the most current story at http://www.jsmineset.com concerning no real collateral in the banking system but just debt and more debt. The interview with Maxx Keiser is quite enlightening.
The big banks are scum-bags.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/reich/article/Wall-Street-sleaze-keeps-growing-3705814.php
Here’s something positive: If Reed and the boys come up with 5000 ounces of gold it will mean at least $6 million plus the gem quality factor which would multiply that number.
It’s absolutely amazing how little acknowledgement the uninformed public places on our Company’s prospects with all of our proven gold properties. Our fortunes are just around the corner and may come any day now, when least expected. It’s just a matter of time and WE ARE DUE!
The largest high grade pocket ever found in California was pulled out of the 16-1 and was worth about $134 million at today’s price.
IT’S JUST A MATTER OF TIME
YES!! It will happen!
Increasing unproductive government hiring, more controlling rules and regulations, courts not protecting the Constitution, increased taxation in proping up a degrading power base and no more Rule of Law, it’s all in the linked article below by Martin Armstrong:
http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/Why%20Property%20Taxes%20Will%20Soar%2007-09-2012.pdf
Everyone! (Big Al, Bluejay and of course Scoop)
It’s time to turn our heads, our focus, from negative to Positive, REGARDLESS of our adversity!
We do this in our personal lives, every day. We wake up knowing that we are in command of our own destiny. Right?!!!
We KNOW that success isn’t defined by what others suggest….nor by what others throw down in front of us.
IT IS TIME to direct our energy to the positive, inevitable, right-in-front-of us success.
Can you see it, RIGHT THERE?? It is.
To Rick, As I was telling a friend of mine, Ed Smith, the brother of Smoky Smith that owned Black Barts welding, that I would be moving to a mine up on Kanaka Creek over upper Tyler Foote, he replyed, oh, thats the one the Swiss Engineers bolted to the side of the mountain to stabilize it when they built it. When you look at the side of the wall from a curve you can still see the bolts and plates they used. Sadly, Ed, and his brother Clarence (Smoky) Smith have died, I miss them, but when I drive upper Tyler to Foote’s crossing I remember those words. Big Al
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