[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Those darn Asians are buying all the gold!

And the demand for gold is being driven by demand for jewelry.

Apparently, the first thing a young man with a pocket full of the local currency wants is the company of a young lady. Well, one thing leadeth to another, and suddenly, he decides (for utterly unfathomable reasons) that he wishes to marry the young lady.

Problem is, young ladies expect their suitors to pony up a suitably shiny trinket in return for acceptance of a marriage proposal...

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Gold is purchased by women in the Middle-east, South Asia and Far East (particularly in 3rd world countries) as a means of savings. They don't trust banks very much.

[SFC Chromey]

Geez, doesn't matter where you might be, it all comes down to the BLING BLING!

[bjs1779]

This 2005 article and links indicate governments still lust for a little gold.

"One thing for sure, the Chinese are not going to make smoke like this without ALREADY securing a fair amount of supply through intermediaries. There is no way the Chinese could buy anywhere near that amount of gold without sending the gold price bonkers. The market is already in a 1500+ tonne supply/demand deficit per year. The tiny gold market cannot handle anything close to what is discussed in the article … not remotely close at prices below $600 an ounce."

http://goldprice.org/news/2005/12/chinas-gold-reserve.html