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by Matthew Hart


  In The Golden Constant: Roy Jastram, The Golden Constant: The English and American Experience, 1560–1976 (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1977), 177.

  CHAPTER 11: THE GOLD IN THE BAMBOO FOREST

  He sits in audience: Al-Bakri, trans. J. F. P. Hopkins, in Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, eds. J. F. P. Hopkins and N. Levitzon (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), 80. Bida legend: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/4chapter1.shtml.

  In 1698 the Dutch traveler William Bosman: David Crownover, “An Ashanti Soul-Washer Badge,” Expedition 6, no. 2 (Winter 1964): 11–12, http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expe dition/PDFs/6-2/An%20Ashanti.pdf.

  A Danish doctor wrote: T. Edward Bowdich, Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee (London: John Murray, 1819), 1.

  The ground of our resting place was very damp: Ibid., 20.

  They marched in at two o’clock in the afternoon: Entry to Kumasi, festivities, meeting the Asantehene: Ibid., 31–41.

  The king’s soul washers wore gold disks: Crownover, “An Ashanti Soul-Washer Badge.” See also “A Soul Washer with Gold Disk and Special Helmet,” http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.CH.DOCUMENT.BFACP1B10189.

  The linguists were their living archive: See for example http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1986.475a–c. The antler finial is in the Gold of Africa Museum, Cape Town.

  Where is the Gold Stool?: “The Story of Africa: West African Kingdoms,” BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/4chapter6.shtml.

  But that night, in a secret meeting: Yaa Asantewaa: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, 2008, http://www.oxfordreference.com.

  The Mali Empire was unknown to Europeans until the appearance of its greatest ruler, Mansa Musa: See for example Hopkins and Levitzon, Corpus of Early Arabic Sources, 341–47, and A. J. H. Goodwin, “The Medieval Empire of Ghana,” South African Archaeological Bulletin 12, 1957: 108–12.

  Mark Nathanson was the son of a wholesale grocer: I relied largely on Larry Phillips for my account of Nathanson, with a few details from Jean Kaisin. See also Kenneth Gooding, “Sadiola–Nathanson’s luckiest strike,” Financial Times, February 9, 1996. The Nathanson Centre has a biographical note at http://nathanson.osgoode.yorku.ca/about/founding-benefactor/; http://www.iamgold.com/english/corporate/iamgold-milestones/default.aspx.

  Treasure hunters have searched for a fabulous city called Ophir for thousands of years: Marx, The Magic of Gold, 18.

  CHAPTER 12: KIBALI

  The Lord’s Resistance Army: “Hundreds More Flee Continuing LRA Attacks in North-East Congo,” UNHCR, March 30, 2012, http://www.unhcr.org/4f75a5589.html. This account demonstrates that one year after our visit the killing was still going on.

  Australian prospectors had discovered the gold in 1903: See for example Brandon Prosansky, “Mining Gold in a Conflict Zone: The Context, Ramifications, and Lessons of AngloGold Ashanti’s Activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights (Northwestern University School of Law) 5, no. 2 (Spring 2007): 236–74, http://www.law.northwestern.edu/journals/jihr/v5/n2/4/Prosansky.pdf.

  A bloodbath followed: Ian Fisher and Norimitsu Onishi, “Chaos in Congo: A Primer. Many Armies Ravage Rich Land in the ‘First World War’ of Africa,” New York Times, February 6, 2000, http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/06/world/chaos-congo-primer-many-armies-ravage-rich-land-first-world-war-africa.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm.

  In August 1998 Ugandan soldiers occupied the goldfield: Anneke van Woudenberg, The Curse of Gold, Human Rights Watch, 2005, 15–18, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/drc0505/drc0505.pdf.

  Then their captors roped them together: Christopher Rhoads, “Peacekeepers at War,” Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2012, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303836404577476460542151978.html.

  Similarly, failed pumps meant that miners had to wade for miles: Van Woudenberg, The Curse of Gold, 54.

  The Ugandans took $9 million worth of gold: Ibid., 15.

  Their successors did even better: Ibid., 55.

  Sir Sam Jonah was a celebrated gold miner: See for example “Sam Jonah: The Man with the Golden Touch,” Sun (Lagos, Nigeria), April 13, 2013, http://sunnewsonline.com/new/specials/aspire/sam-jonah-the-man-with-the-golden-touch/; executive profile at Bloomberg Businessweek, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=372443&privcapId=35042515; Simon Robinson, “Sam Jonah: AngloGold Ashanti,” Time, December 17, 2004, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,100 9745,00.html; http://www.anglogold.com/Additional/Press/Ashanti/2003/Ashanti+Chief+Executive+Sam+Jonah+Knighted.htm; “Sam Jonah Moves to Non-Executive Board Position at AngloGold Ashanti,” http://www.anglogold.com/additional/press/2005/sam+jonah+moves+to+non-executive+board+position+at+anglo gold+ashanti.htm.

  He had taken Ashanti into Kilo-Moto nine years earlier: Van Woudenberg, The Curse of Gold, 60.

  AngloGold funded one such trip: Ibid., 61.

  The company said it had only paid $8,000 out of petty cash: “AngloGold Ashanti’s Activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” statement from company, 6, http://www.anglogoldashanti.co.za/NR/rdonlyres/ECBCA20E-5B45-4625-B4E7-B8517F369043/0/AGA_and_the_DRC.pdf.

  But Toronto is the world’s leading gold-mine city: http://www.tmx.com/en/listings/sector_profiles/mining.html.

  Regardless of its size, Moto was the cat’s paw of important interests: Barry Sergeant, “Inside Moto Gold Mines,” Mineweb, April 1, 2007, http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-historical-daily-news?oid=18928&sn=Detail.

  With its joint venture partner, AngloGold Ashanti, Randgold took a run at Moto: See for example William MacNamara, “Randgold in $300m Placing for Expansion,” Financial Times, July 29, 2009, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e4a66744-7bd6-11de-9772-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2OTZpnjSf; Susan Kirwin, “Randgold Outbids Red Back for Moto Goldmines,” Northern Miner, July 27, 2009, http://www.northernminer.com/issuesV2/VerifyLogin.aspx.

  Bristow worked on his counterbid: All from Mark Bristow and Grant Bristow, interviews with author.

  Red Back’s Lukas Lundin: Eduard Gismatullin, “Billionaire Swedes See Lundin Jump After Matching Apple: Energy,” Bloomberg, May 28, 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-27/billionaire-swedes-see-lundin-jump-after-matching-apple-energy.html.

  He had sold the Mauritanian property: “Canada’s Kinross to Buy Red Back for $7.1 Billion,” New York Times, August 2, 2010, http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/canadas-kinross-to-buy-red-back-for-7-1-billion/.

  Tye Burt: Interview with author; for figures on possible reserves of Tasiast, and advancement of Kinross in rank of producers, see for example Stephen Grocer, “Deal Profile: Kinross to Acquire Red Back Mining,” Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2010, http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/08/03/deal-profile-kinross-to-acquire-red-back-mining/.

  Kinross fired Burt: Liezel Hill, “Kinross Gold Fires CEO Tye Burt, Replaces with Rollinson,” Bloomberg, August 2, 2012, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-01/kinross-gold-fires-ceo-tye-burt-replacing-him-with-rollinson.html; Liezel Hill, “Kinross Gold Takes $3.1 Billion Writedown on Tasiast Mine,” Bloomberg, February 14, 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/kinross-gold-takes-3-1-billion-writedown-on-tasiast-mine.html.

  Its soldiers come from countries: Rhoads, “Peacekeepers at War.”

  Because the United States’ Dodd-Frank Act: Edward Wyatt, “Use of ‘Conflict Minerals’ Gets More Scrutiny from U.S.,” New York Times, March 19, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/business/use-of-conflict-minerals-gets-more-scrutiny.html?pagewanted=all.

  A human rights group calculated: Gouby, “Gold Now Top Conflict Mineral in Congo,” Associated Press, October 25, 2012.

  In eastern Congo, a war that has already killed 3 million people: Jeffrey Gettelman, “Troops Mass in Fought-Over City, Raising Fear of New Violence in Congo,” New York Times, December 16, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/
2012/12/17/world/africa/troops-mass-in-fought-over-city-raising-fear-of-new-violence-in-congo.html; 3 million dead: van Woudenberg, 12.

  Randgold priced its reserves: http://www.randgoldresources.com/randgold/content/en/randgold-kibali-project. See second footnote to table.

  It’s not clear that our distant ancestors: Interview with Ben Roberts, at the time, curator of the European Bronze Age collections at the British Museum, London, and now on the faculty of Durham University.

  One theory about the super-rich: Chrystia Freeland, “The Self-Destruction of the 1 Percent,” New York Times, October 13, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/opinion/sunday/the-self-destruction-of-the-1-percent.html?pagewanted=all.

  INDEX

  Aachen, 8

  ABC News, 159

  accidents, mining, 4, 196, 202, 217–18

  adventure books, 187–88, 201

  Afghanistan, 209

  Africa, 187–213

  gold empires of, 188–95, 199–200

  see also specific countries

  agriculture, 50, 52, 53, 82

  air exploration, 205

  “Alinement of Mining Districts in North Central Nevada” (Roberts), 86–87, 90–91

  amalgamation, mercury-gold, 146

  American River, 47

  Anasazi people, 78

  ancestors, gifts for, 30

  Andes, 27–30

  AngloGold Ashanti, 6, 219, 220, 222

  AngloGold Limited, 219

  Antler range, 80–81

  Apple Inc., 223

  Argentina, 50

  art, 183–84

  artisanal mining, 217, 225

  Asantehene, 190, 191, 193, 194

  Ashanti Goldfields, 219

  Ashanti state, 189–95

  assay, assayers, 84, 89, 91, 92, 132, 175

  Associated Press, 96

  Atahualpa, 31–40

  aloofness of, 32

  ambush of, 34–35

  arrival in Cajamarca of, 33–34

  divinity of, 37–38

  gold offered by, 36–37

  murder of, 39–40

  as prisoner, 35–39

  Aurora Empowerment Systems, 11, 12

  Aurora gold mine, 11–18

  illegal miners and theft in, 11–18

  pillars in, 13, 14

  shooting in, 15, 17

  Auschwitz, 99

  Australia, Australians, 99–100, 138, 196, 204, 217

  autoclaves, 109, 111

  Awa Ba, 197–98

  Aztec, 26–27, 41

  bacteria, 7, 109

  Baia Mare, 196

  Balboa, Vasco Núñez de, 27

  Baltimore Sun, 67

  Bamberger, Ludwig, 49

  Bank for International Settlements (BIS), 175–80

  banking, banks, 9, 42–43, 82, 173

  Barrick and, 104, 112

  capital requirements of, 160, 179

  central, see central banks

  criminal activities of, 228

  crises in, 2, 50, 114, 160, 162, 179, 227

  European regulation of, 154, 159–63, 177

  forward selling and, 113

  gold price fixing and, 169–71

  gold standard and, 44, 45, 49–56, 58, 59, 63

  gold trade and, 153–54

  Bank of England, 45, 49, 57, 70

  Bank of France, 49, 69

  Bank of Nova Scotia, 169

  Baotou, 138, 140

  Barberton mine, 20

  Barclays Capital, 169–70

  Baring family, 52

  Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick Resources), 99–100, 102–14, 217

  Camflo Mine and, 103–4

  founding of, 102

  gold prices and, 105, 111–14, 163, 164–65

  Goldstrike and, 106–7, 109–12

  Mercur mine and, 104–6, 109

  on uses of gold, 185–86

  Basel, 10, 175, 177

  Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, 160, 163

  Bathily, Moussa, 213

  Beck, Glenn, 158

  Beijing, 134, 135

  Belgium, 58, 64, 217

  Belmont, August, Jr., 53

  Berlin, 50

  Bernanke, Ben, 75, 175

  Bernstein, Peter, 23, 215

  Bida (seven-headed snake), 189

  Big Brother (TV show), South African version of, 11

  bills of exchange, 43

  bimetallic system, 45, 49, 50

  Bishop, Harry, 91

  “Blackberry riots,” 9

  Blake, William, 1

  Blue Star turquoise mine, 91–92

  Boka project, 133

  Bolivia, 45

  Bonanza (TV show), 73

  Bondala, 209–11

  bonds, 53–54, 73, 177, 179, 226

  German, 160

  Bosman, William, 189

  Botswana, 209

  Bowdich, Thomas, 190, 193, 194

  Bo Xilai, 131

  Bretton Woods system, 61–64, 69

  bribery, 18, 97, 98, 140, 147

  Brink’s-Mat Ltd., 172–75

  Brisebois, Michel, 207–8

  Bristol, 173, 174

  Bristow, Grant, 223

  Bristow, Mark, 221–24

  British Library, 194

  Budapest, 97–99

  Bulgaria, 22

  bullion analysts, 154, 157

  bullion funds, 154–57

  bullion market, 2, 19, 153–57, 161–65, 169–71, 177

  BIS exchange and, 176

  Bunya, 216

  Bureau of Mineral Resources, Liaoning, 131, 132

  Bureau of Mines, U.S., 84

  Burj Khalifa, 4

  Burma (now Myanmar), 116, 121

  Burroughs, Edgar Rice, 187–88

  Burt, Tye, 224

  Business Review Weekly, 138

  Cairo, 200

  Cajamarca, 31–40

  arrival of Spanish reinforcements in, 38

  gold assembled in, 36–37

  Calder, Wallace, 79

  California, 88, 158, 159

  gold rush in, 47–49, 79, 201

  Camflo Mines, 103–4

  Campbell, Frederick Barber, 59

  Camp David, gold standard meeting at, 70–75

  Canada, 72, 94, 175, 196

  Munk in, 97, 99, 100–101, 103–4

  Cape Town, 221, 224

  capital gains tax, 110

  “carbon in pulp” (CIP), 107–8

  Carlin, Nev., 91, 93

  Carlin Trend, 75–76, 81, 83–86, 96, 97

  Carlisle, John G., 53

  Carson River, 79

  cash deposits, gold compared with, 180

  Catalan Atlas, 199

  central banks, 65, 68

  BIS exchange and, 175–77, 178, 180

  forward selling and, 113

  gold buying of, 162

  gold standard and, 44, 45, 49, 54–55, 58, 63

  see also specific banks

  Changchun, 126

  Chang San Hao, 136–45

  cheap labor at, 142–43

  equipment failure at, 142

  Friedland’s purchase of, 136, 144

  Friedland’s sale of, 137

  miners in, 139–43, 145

  “open to depth” deposit in, 141

  traffic at, 141–42

  Charlemagne, 8

  Charles, Jeremy, 170–71

  Charles, Prince of Wales, 219

  Chase National Bank, 59

  cheats, catching, 175

  Chile, 28, 30

  China, Chinese, 37, 71, 99, 114–27

  central bank of, 154, 156, 162

  civil war in, 123, 125

  communism in, 115, 117, 121, 123–26, 131

  Dalian mining conference in, 131

  faking gold in, 181n

  gold buying of, 115

  gold production in, 115–27, 129–52

  gold reserves of, 119, 129

  Manchu rulers in, 120

  millionaires in, 138, 144

 
; miners, 48, 115–16, 120, 121, 123, 139–49

  Mongols in, 119–20

  new minerals policy in, 137

  number of gold mines in, 115, 145

  ocean mining of, 228

  prohibition on private mining in, 146–47

  purges in, 124

  reparations paid by, 120

  running-out-of-gold scenario for, 151–52

  small mining operations in, 115–16, 145–50

  South Africa compared with, 115, 137

  transformation of, 115, 117, 125, 126–27

  China National Gold Group Corporation, 124, 137, 141, 143, 145

  China National Nuclear Corporation, 129, 136–37

  China Railway, 142–43

  Christianity, 25–26, 34, 36

  Atahualpa’s conversion to, 40

  Christian Science Monitor, 146–47

  cinnabar, 119

  Civil War, U.S., 50

  Clairtone Sound Corporation Limited, 100–101

  Cleveland, Grover, 53

  Clovis culture, 78

  CME Group (formerly Chicago Mercantile Exchange), 166

  coal, 137–38, 144

  Coetzer, Willie, 12–15

  Coinage Act (1873), 49

  collateral, 159, 166

  Colombia, 28, 30

  Colorado, 82

  Columbus, Christopher, 25–26

  commercials, 100

  commodity exchange, 166

  commodity prices, 62, 97

  communism, in China, 115, 117, 121, 123–26, 131

  comprehensive force, laws of, 7

  Comstock Lode, 79

  Conan Doyle, Arthur, 187–88

  Congo, Belgian, 217

  Congo, Democratic Republic of, 215–29

  illegal gold trade in, 225

  war in, 216, 226

  Congress, U.S., 45, 46, 166

  Connally, John B., 66–68, 70, 74

  Conquest of the Incas, The (Hemming), 29, 31, 35, 39

  consumer price index, 55

  Coope, Alan, 86

  copper, 99–100, 137, 173

  Copts, 201

  corruption, 9, 18–22, 219

  in China, 131, 142, 144

  Cortés, Hernán, 26–27

  Cortez, Nev., 93, 108

  Crerie, Frank, 131

  Crescent Valley, 86, 91, 92

  crime, 228

  gold and, 8, 9, 16–22, 171–75, 225

  currency, 43–45, 49, 65, 96

  credibility of, 54–55

  gold standard and, 43–44, 54–55

  pegged to dollar, 61–62

  see also specific currencies

 

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