From river prospectors to canny 投資家s, why everyone's on the 追跡（する） for gold

By WARREN POLE

Updated: 22:00 BST, 7 January 2012

This picture of the Bank of England’s gold 丸天井 was taken in October 2008, almost 正確に when gold’s value began to 急に上がる ? and reawakened a panning and 採掘 産業 Britain thought it had forgotten for ever

Gold bullion in the 丸天井s at t he Bank of England. The posters on the 塀で囲むs remain from the time during World War II when it was used an 地下組織の staff restaurant

It’s a misty morning in the Scottish Highlands. Craggy outcrops tower above us while ahead, at the end of a 非常に長い dirt 跡をつける, I can just make out a 黒人／ボイコット 穴を開ける in the 激しく揺する. Large enough for a man to comfortably stand up in, this is the 入り口 to Scotland’s first gold 地雷.

Scotgold CEO Chris Sangster 打ち明けるs the 激しい 取調べ／厳しく尋問する and we step inside, flicking on the small lights on our helmets to illuminate the blackness.

Within a few yards, the light from the 入り口 has evaporated and we are enveloped by the 冷静な／正味の 不明瞭 of the 地雷. We trudge almost half a mile 負かす／撃墜する a tunnel, ankle-深い in water, until the 軸 begins 跡をつけるing a vein of gold. There is now 800ft of 激しく揺する above us and tiny 粒子s of ‘fool’s gold’, or アイロンをかける pyrite, glint in the 塀で囲むs of the tunnel.

‘Most of the gold 粒子s in here are いっそう少なく than 0.1mm in 直径,’ says Sangster, ‘so you can’t see them with the naked 注目する，もくろむ.’

First discovered in 1985, the Tyndrum 地雷 was 棚上げにするd when the price of gold 急落するd 早期に this century, but with its value now 急に上がるing, Scotgold 計画（する）s to start 採掘 later this year. The company’s 控えめの offices, 位置を示すd within former 鉄道 駅／配置する buildings, give no hint of the 可能性のある fortune the company is sitting on.

‘There are 現実に 高度に 見込みのある areas here,’ Sangster 主張するs. ‘The 公式の／役人 資源 we have is 163,000 ounces, which is £184 million at today’s prices.’

Prospector Leon Kirk, Live's 過密な住居 政治家 and Scotgold's Chris Sangster at Tyndrum. To date, some 170,000 トンs of gold have been 地雷d 世界的な - which would fit in three Olympic-size swimming pools

By this time next year, those 163,000 ounces will almost certainly be 価値（がある） かなり more.

Since 2008, gold’s price has 二塁打d, now standing at more than £1,040 an ounce.

As the value of 伝統的な 投資 markets, 範囲ing from the 在庫／株 交流 to 所有物／資産／財産, has nosedived, and 全世界の 財政上の markets have slid deeper into 騒動, 勢い has built for what is now 存在 述べるd as ‘the new gold 急ぐ’. Those caught up in it 含む everyone from high financiers to petty street 犯罪のs.

From the wedding （犯罪の）一味 on your finger to the workings of your smartphone and hair-thin wires in the 加工業者 of your laptop, gold is precious in every facet of life.

To date, some 170,000 トンs have been 地雷d 世界的な ? which would fit in three Olympic-size swimming pools ? but there are only 90,000 トンs of known 資源s remaining. This means that at 現在の extraction 率s we will run out in 30 years.

採掘 companies are acutely aware of this and are already looking その上の afield for the next big strike.

‘A lot of the easiest 的s have been 演習d,’ says Will Tankard, 上級の 分析家 at Thomson Reuters GFMS.

‘Companies are now going to ますます exotic and 政治上 risky areas, from the far northern reaches of Canada to 4,500 metres above sea level in the Andes.’?

偉業／利用するing such 場所／位置s often 要求するs 大規模な 投資 before 採掘 can begin.

‘In northern Canada you could find yourself 500 miles from the nearest road, so you could be looking at the 法案 for the roads, 力／強力にする lines and so on,’ Tankard explains.

There’s also the 事柄 of 地元の 対立.

An example is Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold 生産者, which recently spent $60 million on 地元の 組織／基盤／下部構造 to 勝利，勝つ over 農業者s …に反対するd to its Pascua Lama 地雷 on the Argentina/Chile 国境.

存在するing 地雷s are becoming harder to work, too. At the end of the 19th century, Kalgoorlie’s first prospectors in Australia 設立する hunks of gold lying on the ground.

Prospector Alan Souter 'sniping' using a 見解（をとる）ing tube 近づく the Tyndrum 地雷

Today, the only 大勝する to profitability is 経由で 爆破ing an ever-swelling 噴火口，クレーター into the landscape at this 広大な ‘superpit’, which now 対策 nearly two miles long by one mile wide and 1,200ft 深い.

Peering over its 辛勝する／優位, the 巨大（な） Caterpillar トラックで運ぶs below look like toys but in fact are 抱擁する, with 13ft-high wheels and ladders to the cabin. Each トラックで運ぶ carries 250 トンs of 激しく揺する, but on 普通の／平均（する） only one in six 負担s 含む／封じ込めるs gold 鉱石, and then it’s only about a ゴルフ ball’s 価値（がある）.

A ゴルフ-ball-sized 量 is the stuff of dreams for the panners now flocking to the Scottish hills.

‘Most of the rivers I know around here have gold in them,’ explains Chris Sangster, although he’s more circumspect on the chances of striking it rich.

‘It’s ありそうもない, but there will be rivers here people 港／避難所’t panned. Two thousand ounces were 設立する in one river 支援する in the 1860s. That would be 価値（がある） two million quid today, so it’s not impossible.’

退役軍人 panners Alan Souter and Leon Kirk are spurred on in their 成果／努力s by 増大するing gold prices and the 開始 of Scotgold’s 地雷 at Tyndrum.

On a cross-country trek to a Highland river, Souter explains that 確かな popular 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs now 似ている ‘a World War I 戦場’.

‘There are 穴を開けるs everywhere, three or four feet 深い where panning has taken place.’

High in the hills and 覆う？ in armpit-high waders, Souter and Kirk 急落（する），激減（する） into the 氷点の water.

Their 道具s are basic ? lengths of 麻薬を吸う with tennis balls on 棒s to suck gravel from the 河床, gridded plastic trays to sieve out the large lumps, and plastic panning dishes to sort gold from grit ? but the work 率 is phenomenal.

As he toils, Kirk explains how powerful the allure of gold can be for panners: ‘It’s in their デオキシリボ核酸. It’s bred into them and it’ll die with them,’ he says.

‘What really 運動s people is the idea of making it big.’

Souter is quick to put the 可能性 of a big strike in 状況.

‘People think they can strike it rich but the reality is different. There are very few panners who even cover their costs,’ he 持続するs.

To illustrate the point, after two hours in the river all they have to show for their 支援する-breaking work are a few tiny slivers of gold 価値（がある） £5 at best.?

The smelting 過程 (from left): a gold （犯罪の）一味 is 実験（する）d for 潔白 on a touchstone at the London assay office; 捨てる gold is smelted 負かす／撃墜する; 注ぐing the liquid metal into new 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 moulds

Kirk is as philosophical as Souter about the idea of a life-changing find, but still succumbs to the 誘惑.

‘I know that as my 技術 level rises, the day I 減少（する） into the 権利 river could be the day for me. A 週末’s work and I could retire.’

Fellow panner Gareth Moore sees gold as his escape but in a different way. Having given up his 職業, flat and family a few months ago, he’s now living in a テント and 生き残るing by panning alone.

At 27, he’s a world 除去するd from the wild-注目する，もくろむd, gold-fevered prospector of popular imagination.

‘I was sick of the ネズミ race, sick of society in general,’ he 自白するs. ‘Gold was my ticket to get out. I know that all I need to do is get in the river and work hard and I’ll get the results.’

にもかかわらず the rain and the prospect of a 冷淡な winter ahead, he 主張するs he’s enjoying the adventure: ‘It’s going really 井戸／弁護士席. I’ve always managed to find enough gold to keep food in my stomach.’

In a windowless strong room in London, 選ぶing up a gold bullion 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 one-手渡すd 代表するs a 本物の 実験（する） of strength.

It’s like an 極端に 激しい house brick, which is stamped on the 最高の，を越す with four nines, denoting more than 999 parts of gold per thousand, and 精油所 示すs identifying it as from the largest gold 生産者 in the ロシアの 連合. The bullion 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 in my 手渡すs is 価値（がある） £430,000.?

Although beguiling to the touch, the 控訴，上告 soon fades. It illustrates a truth , すなわち that gold is not so much sought after because of what it is, but because of what it means, its value and the 力／強力にする that value can bestow upon its owners.

London has been the centre of the world’s gold market for centuries. The finest gold 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s are known as ‘London Good 配達／演説／出産’ and 重さを計る just over 400 ounces.

The finished 製品 has a rough finish and is only 37.5 per cent pure, but this one will go straight 支援する into the 貿易（する） again for re-smelting. It's 価値（がある） around £120,000

保証（人）d to 含む／封じ込める at least 995 parts per thousand of gold, they are 貿易（する）d の中で members of the London Bullion Market 協会’s (LBMA) Good 配達／演説／出産 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）. Such is the strength of the 保証（人） the Good 配達／演説／出産 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） 会談するs, there is no need for 独立した・無所属 立証.

Later, in an office on the 41st 床に打ち倒す of the HSBC Tower in Canary Wharf, London, Jeremy Charles, the bank’s 全世界の 長，率いる of precious metals, （一定の）期間s out what this means.

‘It’s the 絶対の 創立／基礎 of the London market,’ he says. ‘Without tha t 信用性 契約s would be meaningless.’?

In the first ４半期/4分の1 of 2011 alone, more than £10 一兆 価値（がある） of gold was 貿易（する）d on the London market.

Broken 負かす／撃墜する into only marginally more manageable chunks, that’s £157 billion of gold bought and sold every day.

Even Charles, who sees a 抱擁する number of 貿易（する）s pass through HSBC’s gold desk on a daily basis, 述べるs it as ‘a staggering number’.

HSBC’s gold 商売／仕事 never sleeps ? as one market の近くにs for the day, another どこかよそで in the world is 開始. Charles’s team buys and sells gold for 卸売 （弁護士の）依頼人s such as central banks, 投資 基金s and major gold 生産者s, with the 普通の／平均（する） 処理／取引 越えるing £5 million.

Just a １０年間 ago such 貿易（する）ing 容積／容量s would have been 考えられない. Gold’s price was languishing after a 20-year 拒絶する／低下する in which 投資家s had shunned ‘useless yellow metal’ in favour of more dynamic 財政上の 製品s.

In 2001, gold was floundering at いっそう少なく than £188 an ounce, and with a far smaller pool of 投資 乗り物s, turnover was as 不振の as the price.

Charles explains that 投資 需要・要求する for gold really started to 選ぶ up after the 9/11 attacks on America and ‘turnover has grown 大幅に’ ever since.?

‘Not only has 投資 需要・要求する for gold grown 意味ありげに but this has been complemented by accessibility to it,’ he says.

‘通貨s are 存在 debased, 利益／興味 率s are low ? where do you 投資する? 住宅? 公正，普通株主権s? Cash? 井戸／弁護士席 かもしれない but these days there is also a growing 傾向 to 持つ／拘留する some go ld in a 大臣の地位 and that’s really been the sea change in the past ten years.’

A £430,000 gold 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, held in a London 丸天井. The 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 comes from Krasnoyarsk in central Russia, which is also the 指名する of the 精油所. 1. The unique serial number of the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業. 2. The oval stamp is the 精油所’s logo. The cyrillic lettering （一定の）期間s Russia. 3. The 精油所’s 身元確認，身分証明 number. 4. This 人物／姿／数字 denotes 潔白 ? in this 事例／患者, 99.99 per cent, as pure as it gets. 5. The assayer’s stamp. 6. The year of 製造（する）. 7. The 甚だしい／１２ダース 負わせる of the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 ? 12.124kg (26lb)

落ちるing 株式市場s, weak 通貨s and 財政上の and political 不安定 around the world have made gold more attractive. Central banks that used to be 逮捕する 販売人s are now becoming 逮捕する 買い手s, putting even more 圧力 on the market. And with 生産／産物 remaining static, prices can only rise in the 直面する of 需要・要求する.?

科学（工学）技術 is playing its part, too. Gold’s remarkable malleability, perfect 行為／行うing 所有物／資産／財産s and total 抵抗 to oxidation make it an 必須の 構成要素 in the 生産／産物 of cutting-辛勝する／優位 科学（工学）技術.

‘科学技術の uses of gold 代表する 12 per cent of 年次の 需要・要求する,’ says Richard Holliday, director of 科学（工学）技術 for the World Gold 会議, ‘and 2010 was a 記録，記録的な／記録する y ear にもかかわらず rising prices.’

One of the main uses of gold is inside 半導体 半導体素子s, which use wire thinner than a human hair. More than 150 billion microchips were 製造（する）d in 2010, a 人物／姿／数字 that’s 予報するd to 二塁打 by 2015.

Fuelling the market still その上の is an 増加するing appetite for gold in the East. In 中国, gold has been used to celebrate happiness and 繁栄 through the ages.

As more and more Chinese see their living 基準s rise above subsistence level and 高級な 購入（する）ing becomes a 可能性 for millions for the first time, many are buying gold.

‘A wealthier 全住民 which already has an affinity to gold will buy more,’ says Marcus Grubb, managing director for 投資 at the World Gold 会議.

中国 is already the world’s largest gold 生産者, but until last year only 消費するd its own 生産／産物. But in 2010, 中国 needed to 輸入する gold for the first time ーするために 満足させる 国内の 需要・要求する ? 260 トンs in total. It’s a 傾向 that looks like continuing.?

As 力／強力にする 転換s from West to East, the gold is going with it. This is good news for London, which, as the 中心 of the world’s gold 貿易（する）, is seeing 商売／仕事 in the yellow metal 急上昇する.

While Jeremy Charles 主張するs 報告（する）／憶測s of the city’s gold 丸天井s running out of space are unfounded, many new 丸天井s are now 存在 built. Deutsche Bank and Barclays are both planning new 丸天井s in London, while Brink’s recently opened a new 施設 within the M25.

In 2010, JP Morgan opened a new 丸天井 in Singapore and 再開するd a 以前 mothballed 施設 in New York to 会合，会う rising 需要・要求する.

Philip Clewes-獲得する, HSBC’s director of precious metals 貿易（する）ing, says the 問題／発行する of 丸天井ing has moved to the fore as ‘more precious metal moves around 肉体的に than it used to’.

When gold travels, the 詳細（に述べる）s are never 明らかにする／漏らすd. But sources in the 安全 商売／仕事 確認する the 需要・要求する for gold 輸送（する） has 増加するd as the market price has risen.

Speaking to Live on 条件 of anonymity, several explain how international 移転s are 定期的に done on 乗客 計画（する）s, the gold 飛行機で行くing in the 持つ／拘留する beneath the feet of sleeping holidaymakers.

They 明らかにする／漏らす that most major airports have 安全な・保証する rooms, while ground 移転s routinely 伴う／関わる armoured 乗り物s, 支援する-up トラックで運ぶs and その上の 武装した guards.

As one source puts it: ‘Gold is like any 価値のある thing. We 輸送（する） it using just the same methods as for high-最高位の 外交官s, diamonds or priceless 作品 of art.’

（警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） about movement in gold can be dangerous in the wrong 手渡すs and 安全 staff are trained for ‘all eventualities’, 含むing 誘拐する シナリオs. Even owning a large 量 of gold in a 丸天井 isn’t 推論する／理由 enough to go inside.

A major 顧客 who turned up unannounced at a スイスの 丸天井 was 逮捕（する）d on the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す. He only 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see his gold, but as a 仲買人 確認するs: ‘They’ll 逮捕（する） you first and ask questions later.’

As the 1983 Brink’s-MAT 強盗 論証するd, turning gold into untraceable cash is nigh on impossible. にもかかわらず escaping from the Heathrow 倉庫／問屋 with £26 million in gold, 13 of those 伴う／関わるd or associated with the heist have since been 刑務所，拘置所d.

Prospector Leon Kirk 試みる／企てるs to find gold using a simple 装置 made from a 麻薬を吸う and tennis ball