US researchers are investigating ways to extract the gold and precious metals from human faeces.

The group identified gold in waste from American sewage treatment plants at levels which if found in rock could be worth mining.

Details were outlined at the 249th national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Denver.

Extracting metals from the waste could also help curb the release of toxic substances into the environment.

“The gold we found was at the level of a minimal mineral deposit,” said co-author Dr Kathleen Smith, from the US Geological Survey (USGS).

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It would be an amazing if the article I have just read is correct. And if it is true then we can expect widespread changes, as the US loses its reserve currency status, that will literally shake our world’s current financial underpinnings.

“So what are China’s real gold holdings? The 30,000 tonne figure has come from Simon Hunt of Simon Hunt Strategic Services (Hunt was the Hunt in Brook Hunt, one of the world’s top metals analytical teams now absorbed into Wood Mackenzie) in his latest ‘Thought for the Day’ letter to his clients in which he comments that “China has much more gold than it is allowing the world to see. As Alasdair Macleod, probably the world’s number one analyst of the gold market, wrote that between 1983 and 2002 China probably accumulated 25,000 tons of gold. Thus, its current gold holdings are probably north of 30,000 tons in contrast to the USA which has either sold or leased most of its gold.” Now this statement coming from one of the usual gold megabulls might be ignorable, but Hunt does not fall into this category and has a good track record of insights into China’s strategic initiatives as far as metals and minerals are concerned.” http://www.mineweb.com/news/gold/could-china-actually-have-30000-tonnes-of-gold-in-reserves/

Personally I have doubts BUT!

Perhaps this is more likely… But even then a Russia_China gold coalition would certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons
The People’s Bank of China may have tripled holdings of bullion since it last updated them in April 2009, to 3,510 metric tons, says Bloomberg Intelligence, based on trade data, domestic output and China Gold Association figures. A stockpile that big would be second only to the 8,133.5 tons in the U.S.