Free Republic

foreward by JS Kim, Managing Director of SmartKnowledgeU Here is a recent correspondence from our friend Lars Schall, an independent financial journalist, and the German Central Bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, regarding the exact whereabouts and specifications of Germany’s national gold reserve. From the correspondence below, it appears that the US Central Bank had already leased out Germany’s gold reserves in prior years and no longer has it, as the gold bars the US Central Bankers returned to Germany last year were clearly not the same ones that Germany originally deposited with them. The questions Mr. Schall’s revelations now beg is...

How many times have parents said to their children, “Because I said so.” Contemporary parenting dictates rationalizing with your child, giving them explanations for everything, and of course being a buddy. But even the most modern of parenting techniques will undoubtedly run into roadblocks, ultimately leading a frustrated parent to utter that infamous justification, “Because I said so.” And speaking of notorious rationalizations, as the world loses confidence in fiat currency (paper money), and the “inflationistas” of the world continue to pound the drum in favor of alternative currencies (specifically precious metals), more and more typical investment portfolios will...

In the end, we were all told that this loss was due to honest miscalculations and blunders, or in other words – LAX CONTROLS.Lax Internal Controls at the Royal Canadian Mint?It's elementary(?), Watson -- (December 21, 2009) A series of miscalculations and blunders in its gold refinery dating back to 2005 were responsible for 17,500 troy ounces of gold going missing from the mint's Sussex Drive inventory count last October, the mint announced in a 12-page report. That's the equivalent of almost forty-four 400-ounce bars and worth more than $20 million in today's prices.More than $3 million in government gold...

It is one thing for tungsten-filled gold bars to appear in the UK, or in Germany: after all out of sight, and across the Atlantic, certainly must mean out of mind, and out of the safe. However, when a 10 ounce 999.9 gold bar bearing the stamp of the reputable Swiss Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux (PAMP, with owner MTP) and a serial number (serial #038892, likely rehypothecated in at least 10 gold ETFs across the world but that's a different story), mysteriously emerges in the heart of the world's jewerly district located on 47th street in Manhattan, things get real...

Report of 1 Kilo Gold Bar Filled with Tungsten Found in UK March 26, 2012 “What appears to be a tungsten filled gold bar has been found – this time in the UK. It is believed that a scrap dealer bought the Metalor 1 kilo gold bar of 99.98% purity from a member of the public. Metalor are a leading international gold refiner and bar manufacturer, headquartered in Zurich. The bar appears to have been tampered with and may have had holes drilled into it or melted out and then had tungsten rods inserted or tungsten poured into the holes....

The Genesis of the Gold-Tungsten: The Rest of the Story; Submitted by Ron Kirby, who first disclosed the LBMA/Physical Bullion disparity story in 2008 and 2009.

German TV station ProSieben finds what appears to be some evocative proof of gold counterfeiting, in the form of tungsten gold substitutes coming to the W.C.Heraeus foundry, which is the world's largest privately-owned precious metals refiner and fabricator, located in Hanau, Germany. The foundry has isolated at least one 500-gram tungsten bar due for melting, originating from a (so far) unnamed bank, which as the head of the foundry stated made the unpleasant discovery that "not all the glitters is gold."

Recently, the German television station ProSieben ran a news story covering W. C. Heraeus in Hanau, Germany, the world’s largest privately owned refinery. In the story, Wilfried Hörner, the head of the gold foundry, shows a 500 gram bar (16.0755 troy ounces) received from an unidentified bank. The bar had the right physical dimensions to be an authentic gold bar, but one of the Heraeus employees suspected something funny. After the bar was cut in half, you can see that the inside is tungsten, with only a coating of gold on the outside.

Amid international accusations that U.S. officials in the Clinton administration replaced gold in Fort Knox with phony, mostly tungsten bars that were later shipped to China and other places yet unknown, a German refinery has now discovered that it has received a bogus "gold" bar as well. The video proof was shown on the German television station ProSieben that ran the news story covering W.C. Heraeus in Hanau, Germany, the world's largest privately owned refinery. In the story, Wilfried Horner, head of the gold foundry, shows a 500-gram bar (16.0755 troy ounces) received from an unidentified bank. The bar had...

It looks that a big part of Gold bars in Banks vaults are in fact tugsten plated gold , the scandal is just starting to leak and it could cause the burst of the Gold bubble. Video interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0-hGHJSgNA

“Gold Finger - A New Take On Operation Grand Slam With A Tungsten Twist” I’ve already reported on irregular physical gold settlements which occurred in London, England back in the first week of October, 2009. Specifically, these settlements involved the intermediation of at least one Central Bank [The Bank of England] to resolve allocated settlements on behalf of J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank – who DID NOT have the gold bullion that they had sold short and were contracted to deliver. At the same time I reported on two other unusual occurrences: 1] - irregularities in the publication of the...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Used in everything from light bulbs to bullets, tungsten is a metal that's all but monopolized by China, which produces about 85% of the world's supply -- leaving the U.S. at a handicap. Tungsten is actually "one of those seldom considered metals that contribute broadly to modern life," said Eric Coffin, editor of the HRA Journal and other publications focused on metals exploration, development and production stocks. And the "the need for new tungsten supplies has created a business opportunity for new suppliers," said Lawrence Roulston, editor of the investment newsletter Resource Opportunities. Unfortunately, the U.S....

Shooters encouraged to use nonlead bullets Event highlights dangers to California condor By KEVIN HOWE Herald Staff Writer Regular or unleaded? Big game hunters in Monterey County will get a chance to try ammunition using nonlead bullets free of charge this month, courtesy of a coalition of wildlife organizations, state and federal agencies, hunters, shooters and ammunition manufacturers. A "Non-Lead Ammunition Shooting Event and BBQ Lunch" will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Monterey County Swiss Rifle Club on La Gloria Road, just outside Soledad. Participants are asked to bring their own rifles and lead...

I had the opportunity to hear a talk by a US Army scientist (pathologist??) from an Army medical laboratory based in Bethesda, Maryland the other day, and the topic was quite eye-opening. I should add the disclaimer that I am not in the medical field, but rather in the terminal ballistics research area for the US military. Since the author indicated the result will soon be sent to the open literature journals, and since the audience was international, I feel free to reveal some of what he related. As background, there is this ongoing struggle in the military community to...

<p>A south Sacramento County neighborhood hit by fears of a childhood leukemia cluster appears to be a hot spot for the metal tungsten, an environmental contaminant of emerging cancer concern, according to a tree-ring study commissioned by The Bee.</p> <p>Two University of Arizona scientists who ran the study say in an unpublished paper that their findings mark "an important discovery that justifies continued research on the Calvine-Florin childhood leukemia neighborhood as well as on clusters of childhood leukemia elsewhere."</p>

<p>WASHINGTON - National insecurity and a sluggish economy are supposed to be political poison for a president, but George W. Bush is riding a wave of popularity that confounds Democrats and mystifies many liberal intellectuals.</p> <p>Some of the very things that grate on Bush's critics - his mangled syntax, his frayed blue jeans, his flight suit - strike a chord with mainstream Americans. Simply put: Most people like the guy. They may be uneasy about terrorism, they may have doubts about his economic policies, but polls consistently show that they're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.</p>