Gaddafi’s gold, diamond billions 'found in South Africa'

http://www.mining.com/gaddafis-gold-diamond-billions-found-in-south-africa-73433/

Gold Mining Strike in South Africa to Start Sept. 3 Over Pay

Generally speaking, more labor strikes are popping up globally, as cost of living pressures keep climbing.  Specifically, this bodes well for higher gold prices, as production declines and labor costs rise.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-30/south-africa-s-biggest-gold-worker-union-to-start-strike.html

All Eyes on South Africa

If I were to handicap the possibility of a labor strike amongst the labor unions working in South African gold mines next week, I'd place the odds at greater than 50%.  The wage concessions between management and the workers are too far apart to come to a quick resolution, after three months of negotiations.

Last year's negotiations were acrimonious and later turned deadly as police clashed with striking unions.  Prices for platinum and gold increased by double digits as the strikes stretched out.

While South Africa is no longer the dominant gold producer as it was several decades ago, they still are the world's fourth largest producer.  High-grade ore finds have dissipated, so mines have gone deeper--and working conditions have become more dangerous, partially fueling higher wage demands.

With rising global demand and decreased supply, the current supply shortage will become more acute if production from South Africa is removed.  Couple that with typical increased seasonal demand from religious holidays and wedding seasons, and we could see rising prices of precious metals amplified by supply disruptions.

http://www.sprottgroup.com/thoughts/articles/all-eyes-on-south-africa/

$1 billion of gold has been shipped from New York to South Africa this year

http://qz.com/83396/1-billion-of-gold-has-been-shipped-from-new-york-to-south-africa-this-year/

Gold Slides Even As Ongoing South African Gold Miner Strike Means No Production On The Horizon

When markets are irrational, it is time to BTFD--largely due to market manipulation by the big institutions.  For those not pre-disposed to vulgarity, BTFD = Buy The F***ing Dip.  Despite South African gold production being taken off-line due to miner strikes, the price of gold plummeted today.  Wall Street is full of head fakes, and this latest bear raid on precious metals is a classic example of the bullion banks shaking the weak longs out of their positions in order to generate paper profits on the price declines, and then buying the lows before the return trip upward.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  Hence, BTFD.  Be bold when the naked shorts want you to panic.

South Africa was the preeminent gold-producing country in the last century, but its production levels peaked several decades ago.  Today, it is the fifth largest producer in the world, with China, Australia, the US, and Russia garnering the top four positions as of 2011.  However, forget production from China and Russia--their entire output is captive domestically and therefore never enters the global marketplace.  The Chinese and Russians are hoarding gold for their reserves, anticipating the demise of the USDollar as the global reserve currency, and the rise of gold-backed hard currencies, with the Renminbi and Ruble as likely candidates.

With Chinese and Russian gold output unavailable, a production shutdown in South Africa will adversely impact global supply, even while demand is soaring in emerging economies.  Expect the shortage in physical gold to intensify.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-15/gold-slides-even-ongoing-south-african-gold-miner-strike-means-no-production-horizon

Platinum Soars As Spreading South African Miner Strike Cripples World's Biggest Platinum Firm

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/platinum-soars-spreading-south-african-miner-strike-cripples-worlds-biggest-platinum-firm

Workers Shot At Another South African Gold Mine As Miner Strike Spreads

I blogged yesterday about the probability of strikes among miners to proliferate going forward here.  As I outlined, the bullish case for the price of gold is many-fold.  But this article suggests another reason:  a hedge against nationalization of the mining sector, which will inevitably destroy the infrastructure and productive capacity.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/workers-shot-another-south-african-gold-mine-miner-strike-spreads

First Platinum, Now Gold: As South African Miners Strike Spreads, Thousands Of Ounces Remain In The Ground

I had a feeling platinum miners going on strike, seeking higher wages for the dangerous working conditions, would not be a unique situation.  Expect strikes, attempted wage controls and worker unrest in other parts of the mineral-extraction world.  And it won't be just platinum mines.  Expect higher precious metals prices--and it won't be just from currency debasement.  It'll be due to soaring demand and supply shocks, too.  But hey, everybody who doesn't know $hit from shinola about gold and silver keep telling me gold is in a bubble.  Of course, they've been saying it since the turn of the century.  Meanwhile, gold has risen almost 7-fold, and silver has soared almost 10-fold in that span.

Instead of recognizing and acknowledging they've missed the boat, the gold top-callers are hoping the fundamentals will just reverse themselves.  Today, there are more reasons to remain bullish on gold than a decade ago, when it was bouncing off the bottoms at $250/oz.--trillions of reasons, in fact.  So despite the nice decade-long run up, the bullish fundamentals of gold and silver remain in place, as strong as ever.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/first-platinum-now-gold-south-african-miners-strike-spreads-thousands-ounces-remain-ground