2012年2月3日星期五

Shipwreck discovery may hold $3 billion in platinum, seaman says


Thu Feb 2, 2012 4:47pm EST
(Reuters) - A Maine seafarer said he found the wreck of a World War II merchant ship off the Massachusetts coast, sunk while ferrying a load of the precious metal platinum valued today at nearly $3 billion, an unprecedented find that left some doubting the cargo.
Greg Brooks of Sub Sea Research in Gorham, Maine, said on Thursday he discovered the submerged ship in 2008 some 50 miles off the Massachusetts coast and, using a remotely run submersible vessel, identified it last summer as British freighter Port Nicholson.
The coal-fired ship, which rests in 700 feet of water, was sunk by torpedoes in a June 1942 attack by a German U-boat, Brooks said.
Brooks said the vessel had been bound for New York from Nova Scotia with 1.707 million ounces of platinum, a precious metal intended as a special wartime payment to the United States from the then Soviet Union.
That much bullion, if verified, would have a value today of $2.77 billion, at a platinum market price of $1,624 per ounce.
"If all the cargo is brought up, it will be the richest shipwreck in the world," the treasure hunter said.
The Port Nicholson, which Brooks said was owned by British shipping firm Port Line Ltd, was part of a convoy under military
escort when enemy ship U-87 fired multiple torpedoes, sinking both it and the troop ship Cherokee, and causing numerous fatalities.
Sub Sea Research says it verified the ship using an underwater camera, has seen "declassified documents verifying the cargo" and interviewed survivors and relatives of the crew.
Brooks said he also believes the ship may have been carrying around $165 million -- at today's prices -- worth of other valuable metals, due to the port of origin and the tonnage.
Of the platinum at least, he said he is "99.9 percent sure" it was on board and the wreck site shows no signs of any past salvage work.
"As time went on, it was forgotten about, because it was a secret cargo," he said.
Platinum is a precious metal used to produce catalytic converters in automobiles, and is used in other goods ranging from computers to dental work and cancer treatment.
In 2009, a federal judge gave the Sub Sea salvage rights to the ship, and Brooks said he hopes to begin recovery operations soon, once he acquires more key equipment.
But some involved with the case question the wreck's purported cargo, which -- if accurately described -- would be the biggest cache ever recovered beneath the sea.
An attorney representing the British government in the matter said he is skeptical about the cargo and disagrees over who can claim to own it today under maritime law.
"I don't have any official information yet on whether any of the things they claim were on there, were on there," said the Tampa-based attorney, Timothy Shusta. "Our initial research into it indicated the ship was carrying machinery and military stores."
But wartime ship manifests historically were unreliable, and false ones sometimes were published to put "loose lips" off of what might be on board, Shusta said.
He agreed that Sub Sea Research was named custodian of the wreck in U.S. court documents, allowing it to carry out salvage operations, but disputed that this meant it can keep what it finds.
Shusta said most likely, maritime law will state that the cargo ultimately belongs to either the ship's owner, which he says is Britain, or possibly to former USSR-member Russia, which Sub Sea Research said later made good on the lost payment from the ship.
If the payment was not made, the U.S. government may have a claim to it, he added.
But Sub Sea Research likely is entitled to an as-yet undetermined salvage award, "if they bring something up," he said.
A similar case from five years ago is still playing out in U.S. courts.
In 2007, Florida deep-sea salvager Odyssey Marine Exploration recovered an estimated $500 million in gold and silver coins from a 19th century sunken ship off the Spanish coast.
Since then, federal courts have steadily ruled in favor of Spain's claim to the treasure, although the money has not yet been paid.
(Editing By Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCune)



http://www.reuters.com/

Italy top gold scrap buyer sees booming business

只要有市場....就會有對應該市場的生意出現...全世界都一樣

因貴金屬價格飛升,在意大利貴金屬回收店鋪,急速發展....





MILAN | Wed Feb 1, 2012 1:49pm EST
(Reuters) - OroCash, Italy's biggest buyer of used gold jewelry, expects business to flourish this year with the opening of 150 new collection points in Italy and abroad as high gold prices and unfolding economic crisis prompt people to sell family assets.
Recycled gold accounts for more than a third of global gold supply and is a major driving force on precious metal markets. Gold scrap volumes in Europe jumped 12 percent to record highs in 2011 on the back of rising metal prices, according to data from metals consultancy Thomson Reuters GFMS.
"People are no longer so emotionally attached to their old jewelry as in the past. Jewellery has become an accessory. People buy and sell it as easily as they buy and sell shoes," Marco Agostoni, OroCash commercial director, said on Wednesday.
OroCash, which opened its first collection point for used jewellery in 2000, estimates that volumes of its gold business rose by at least 15 percent in 2011 from 6 tons in 2010, its top managers told Reuters in an interview.
"Of course, the crisis has helped (to boost business) but it is not the main reason. Gold prices are high and people sell jewellery they have accumulated over the years and no longer need," Agostoni said.
About 20-25 percent of people who sell their gold jewellery do it because they are forced by dire economic circumstances, up from about 15 percent before the crisis, OroCash managers said citing their internal statistics.
"People get divorced and they want to free themselves from old memories. Or they inherit jewellery that they don't want to keep," Agostoni said, brushing off estimates by some sector analysts that most available gold scrap has already hit the market after a prolonged period of high prices.
OroCash which operates 350 collection points in Italy and about 100 shops in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Austria, plans to open about 150 new shops this year on its home turf and abroad betting on people's desire to cash on high gold prices.
Countries favored by the group are often referred to as weak links in Europe. Italy, the euro zone's third-biggest economy, has been struggling to stave off a debt crisis which is engulfing Greece and forced Portugal and Ireland to seek international bailouts.
Gold prices rallied on Wednesday adding to an 11 percent rise in January, the largest one-month gain since August 2011 and the largest for the month of January since 1980, thanks the weak U.S. dollar and central bank purchases.
Used gold jewellery collectors, known as "Compro Oro" shops, have mushroomed in Italy since 2000 when the country liberalized its gold market allowing private operators to trade in precious metals.
The number of Italian Compro Oro shops is estimated at 5,000-8,000 at present with an annual turnover of 2-3 billion euros, while total volume of gold scrap in the country is estimated at 85-90 tons in 2010, according to the Italian goldsmiths' federation Federorafi.
OroCash refines its precious metal scrap in Switzerland which has high quality refining facilities, its managers said.
(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova)

James Turk : Gold has another 600 percent to go

James Turk & Chris Waltzek - February 1, 2011. GoldSeekRADIO : Gold is still undervalued and has another 600 percent to go . James Turk, Director of the GoldMoney Foundation talks about the outlook for the gold price the fears of hyperinflation the problems facing the eurozone as well as the global economy.Gold is very undervalued says James Turk who recommends to minimize financial assets and maximize tangible assets and when it comes to liquidity the best tangible asset is gold and silver


2012迄今白銀漲勢強勁勢頭能否延續?

卡爾森2012-02-02 15:44


發佈時間:2012年2月1日下午2:41(美國東部時間)
來源:Kitco金拓中文網(www.kitco.cn)


1月份商品的表現很不錯,白銀的表現更是出類拔萃,白銀在1月份上漲了20%。


這令白銀成為了期貨市場中表現僅次於黃金的商品。


隨著2月份的來臨,白銀繼續加固其上漲,不過在前往34美元/盎司目標位時,遇到了一些阻力。週三,紐約商業交易所Comex分部3月期銀報33.837美元/盎司。


3月期銀自去年12月29日觸及26.1450美元低點以來,已經呈現出了穩固的上升趨勢。


Adrian Day資產管理公司總裁阿德里安·戴伊表示1月份白銀上揚如此多的很大一部分原因是因為在去年12月裡,白銀下跌了太多。去年11月30日,3月期銀報32.804美元,而在12月30日卻僅僅收於27.915美元,在1個月裡下跌了15%。不過白銀並不是唯一在去年12月出現下跌的商品,其他包括黃金和其他商品在內的市場也出現了不同程度的下跌。然而,與白銀類似,上個月一些商品的價格也出現了回升。


戴伊表示白銀跌至30美元下方可能吸引了一些自去年9月以來還沒有看到過銀價跌至如此低點的逢低買入者湧入。


1月份實物銀買入量出現了急劇的上升,戴伊說道。美國鑄幣廠表示上個月美國鷹揚銀幣的銷量為有史以來第二高,雖然其中一部分原因是由於新年開始後所帶來的季節性效果。


戴伊把白銀價格的上漲歸結於諸如之前價格出現了急劇下跌的市場因素,而不是歸因於白銀基本面發生了變化或者是強勁的投資需求所帶動。


現在情況如何?


1月白銀大幅上漲後,價格回到了去年12月下跌前的上方。現在白銀在34美元區域遇到了阻力,戴伊表示這並不令人感到吃驚,因為之前白銀也在這一價格處遇到了很大的阻力。


Telvent DTN高級分析師達林·紐索姆表示他認為白銀和黃金在這種情況下會出現回調,不過他也承認他目前的看法有些另類。


如同在去年12月大跌浪潮中商品被超賣類似,紐索姆認為在目前高價中,貴金屬看上去有些超買。


考慮到白銀會受到其貴金屬及工業金屬雙重屬性的影響,其價格如何發展將取決於經濟方面的消息,紐索姆說道。


“我認為2月份價格會下跌,不過會下跌多少我也不是很確信。很大程度上將取決於美元是否會走挺,如果美元走強的話,那麼這將對白銀及銅這些工業金屬施加下行壓力。到目前為止還沒有出現真正利好的爆炸性經濟新聞,”他說道。


戴伊表示考慮到白銀還有潛在的支撐,其中一部分來自於美聯儲發布的極度寬鬆的貨幣政策,白銀的長期遠景依然穩固。 “我認為在銀價再一次跌至27美元之前,很有可能會先漲至40美元,”他說道。


RJ O'Brien的技術研究總監戴夫·托斯表示,對那些看好白銀的人來說,現在既有一些好消息,也有一些“不溫不火”的消息。


對長期白銀多頭來說,“好消息”是,這一大型牛市修正似乎在銀價跌至12月低點26.1450美元時結束了。他認為這一修正期是從4月高點49.82美元到12月的低點。托斯表示:“從長線角度來說,就這個問題而言,一個結果便是白銀與黃金可能準備好突破歷史最高點。但這種情況是否會在2012年發生,仍有待觀察。


他表示自己這麼認為有兩個原因。他說,首先,去年4月至12月期間的牛市情緒大幅降溫。其次,銀價在1月的強勢幫助確認了12月的低點。
現在我們再來看看“不溫不火”的消息。托斯說,白銀多頭的下個挑戰就是讓這種金屬的價格向上突破其當前的水平。他說,在過去一年中,銀價基本處在其大的交易區間的中部,而該位置“通常存在著拉鋸戰的風險”。


但那並不意味著他不認為銀價最終會升至50美元,只是這一旅程可能是不平穩的。所以,他表示,短線交易員需要小心鎖定其最近的收益。對短線看漲的交易員來說,一個關鍵的支撐位是1月25日的低點31.2250美元。如果3月期銀能向上突破當前的阻力位34美元,升至35美元,那麼支撐位也將相應地升至32.93美元。他說,通過將這些位置看作是重要的技術圖表支撐位,短線交易者便能夠鎖定價格反彈帶來的收益。


對長線操作的交易者來說,他表示重要的支撐位在30.28美元。


投資者將驅動銀價


巴克萊投資銀行表示,投資需求將繼續是銀價上漲的重要驅動力。銀價可能會升至40美元,但他們關於2012年的白銀均價預期為32.50美元。


因為礦產供應量預計會達到記錄水平並且或會對價格施加向下的壓力,所以銀價的走高將需要投資需求的驅動。


如果發生這種情況,我們並不需要覺得不可思議,因為在去年年末對白銀進行平倉後,投資者可能會新建倉位。巴克萊銀行指出,去年,交易所交易基金的白銀淨流出量達到了786公噸,最終以14,662噸的持倉量結束了該年度。此外,他們表示,美國商品期貨交易委員會(簡稱CFTC)在Comex統計的投機性頭寸也處在其自2003年4月以來的最低位。


他們說:“雖然白銀價格在2011年下半年缺乏投資需求的推高,但這也意味著現在投資者正持有輕倉,需求的上升可以驅動價格從已經確立的底部上揚。因此,鑑於我們對黃金也持有積極的觀點,我們預計投資需求將會對銀價構成支撐,可如果投資需求下降,那價格在找到新的支撐前會不斷波動,在那種情況下,新的支撐或許會在今年價格的出發點附近。”