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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gxseries, post: 396952, member: 4373&quot;]There are some key points that I should clarify. </p><p><br /></p><p>All gas, metals, minerals come out from the mines, with a certain percentage recycled for metals. Most commodities were priced way too low before 2003 simply because there was little demand and working conditions were absurdly harsh with high death rates, etc. Most people either ignore this fact or just assumed that metals come from bank vaults. </p><p><br /></p><p>It was in 2003 where most commodities, in particular iron and copper, rose in particular from the Chinese market demand. It would be absurdly foolish that no companies took the opportunities to start developing back then. 5 years later today, if you say no companies are still looking to develop new mines and resources, something is obviously wrong. Gold in particular has been a popular commodities for years and most companies would not ignore if there is an extremely large ore body and economically viable. Mining cost per ounce of gold is perhaps about 300USD like TheNoost said, so there are huge money to be made. Last year, a new gold mine opened in China - Jinfeng mine is said to produce about 120,000 oz of gold. A mine in Mongolia, Oyu Tolgoi is scheduled to open later this year with full production rate scheduled in 2010 at 330,000oz. I&#039;m sure there are other major gold mines coming into schedule within the next few years but those are the examples that I know offhand. China is currently being proactive, looking worldwide to buy mines - yes a whole mountain in some cases! I vaguely remember one Chinese company buying up an entire mountain in Peru and wanted to move an entire village for mining. </p><p><br /></p><p>The situation is different for other metals, let&#039;s say platinum and rhodium. There have been no new sources identified other than South Africa and Russia. South Africa still produces about 75%+ of the world&#039;s platinum supply, which is quite scary to think about if South Africa runs into some conflict. </p><p><br /></p><p>Agreed, when people feel troubled with their local currency, this will increase demand but when it&#039;s over, prices just fall. My point is, there has never been a time where metal prices have held high the whole time since 2003. Will it keep on rising? I am quite doubtful. In the short term, yes it might but long term, definately no. High prices does not necessarily help everyone. And just in case you don&#039;t get my point yet, can I remind you how expensive it is to drive these days. Not pleasant.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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