Australian Fitness Club Rapped For "Gold Coin To Join"

The reason given for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission launching a complaint about Fitness First's "Gold Coin To Join" campaign was the exclusion of an additional administration fee, but there may be cause to wonder if the campaign was frowned upon because Fitness First didn't quote a legal-tender price.


It's a straw in the wind, of a certain sort. Using gold as a medium of exchange, despite E-gold launching long before PayPal, never really took off. If it does, there may be similar hostility surfacing along with it.

Australian 1Q Gold Production Drops 2%

Peak gold wasn't mentioned; a more immediate reason was cited for the 2% drop.

Total gold production in Australia fell by around 2% in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest data of mining consultants Surbiton Associates. Surbiton blamed the latest resource super profits tax for the declined gold output in the quarter.

The gold industry also warned that the super profit tax could encourage many junior gold explorers to look overseas rather than remain in Australia. Surbiton report showed that total gold production in Australia was reported of 1.96 million ounces in the quarter ended March this year, decreasing by 2% while it was reported of 1.92 million ounces in the previous quarter ended December 2009. However, the gold production was reported up by 13% comparing to the same quarter last year....

Austrian Mint Overwhelmed By Demand For Philharmonic Coin

According to a Reuters report, the Austrian mint sold more Philharmonic gold coins in the last two weeks than it did in the first three months of this year:

The mint sold 243,500 ounces of gold in coins and bars in that period, compared to 205,000 ounces in the entire first three months of the year, marketing director Kerry Tattersall told Reuters in a phone interview.

'Demand is exclusively from Europe, we haven't had any orders from the United States and Asia in the last few weeks,' Tattersall said. 'That's a clear sign that there is panic buying because of concerns about Greece and the euro.'

Sales of its signature Philharmonic gold coin reached 108,000 ounces in the same period, also surpassing the 89,000 ounces in the first quarter, which Tattersall said had been an average quarter that did not live up to the previous year's.

'In the last two, three weeks, it was pretty frantic again,' he said. The mint has started working in three shifts again, minting coins and bars around the clock to keep pace with demand, he said.

The mint, which doesn't keep a lot of inventory in any case, is currently sold out and whipping up more.


Another bullion coin that's sold out is the Australian "Year Of The Tiger" 1 oz. bullion coin. That size is limited to 30,000 pieces, while other sizes have no limit. Also limited is a 10-kilogram (!) coin, whose run was 100.


Both of these stories show that the recent thirst for gold is by no means limited to futures contracts and ETFs. The buying frenzy seems confined to Europe, for the moment.

Good News For Miners In Western Australia

The mining royalty rate isn't going up in that province.

GOLDMINERS in Western Australia breathed a sign of relief last night after Premier Colin Barnett ended weeks of controversy by ruling out an increase in gold royalty rates.

When Mr Barnett raised the prospect of a rise last month, some producers claimed it could force them to close.

Mr Barnett confirmed the plan was opposed by his Mines Minister, Norman Moore, and would not proceed this year....

Australian Gold Production Increases 13% In Fourth Quarter Of 2009

Gold production in Australia is increasing at a faster rate, according to this brief article in TopNews:

According to the latest report by the Mining consultants Surbiton Associates, the output of total gold in Australia grew by 13% in the quarter ending December comparing to the previous quarter. Also the demand of gold was reported increased in the quarter reflecting the increase in gold prices.

For the full year, production increased by 3% as compared with 2008. If the peak-gold'ers are right, then these production increases will be followed by big drops some time later.