A long time ago, I read somewhere that it costs $400 to produce one ounce of gold out of the mine. Since gold has been depressed under $400 for about 25 years excluding the blip in 79-80, there was no reason to open the mine. Since gold lately has been consistently above $400 it now pays to explore the potential of operating the mine. It reminds me of shale oil in Canada. It costs around $40/Barallel to get the oil out of the rock. I would not put it past OPEC to drop the price so that it would be expensive to get the oil out of the shale. Gold is not like oil but it is expensive to get the it out and process it.

A sleeper element of late is Gadolinium. It has had a bad press due to medical problems. This element is being sold at $5/oz out of China. I don't own it or have any intererest in it since I am out of funds. I would love to buy it at this price and just hold on to it. If nothing happens, then I'll recover my money with interest with the currency trade. The Chineese currency is going up against the dollar and if you own something that China produces i.e. Rare Earth Elements, you'll do well in a flat market. If Gadolinium finds its niche in the magnetic refrigerators of the future, there is no limit on what value it will take. I'm guessing that $50 /oz is not outside the possibility. I'm sorry I got carried away. I have a saying in that if no one sees it but you, then there is an opportunity. I don't think the focus is on Gadolinium but I have a feeling that it will in the near future i.e. five years.