The Bastards Want to Track Our Gold! 

Robert Wenzel 


"EPJ anticipates life." Those are the words Bob English uses in a comment about a post we wrote nearly a year ago.

On August 10, we wrote:
Once you understand the insane games like this that the power elite play, you have to become very nervous when you see that the Dodd-Frank Finance "Reform" Bill calls for U.S. support for a "blood minerals" program designed along the lines of the "blood diamonds" Kimberely Process. The only difference will be that the elite are not just aiming at Liberia. "Blood minerals" is really cover for what they really want to control, gold. They'll tell you it is a fight to protect against "blood gold", but what they won't tell you is the blood and gold they are really talking about is yours, if you try to resist once they figure out how they are going to try and grab your gold.
A month earlier on July 25. 2010, we wrote:
The Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill contains a provision that requires companies buying gold and other minerals to submit an annual report outlining what they are doing to ensure their minerals are "conflict-free."

Most of the focus on this provision, to date, has been on the ramifications for high tech companies such as Apple and Intel. But the provision goes beyond the minerals used in high tech equipment, such as cobalt, copper and tantalum. Gold is also on the list. 

The Bill requires that manufacturers report where they purchased their minerals to ensure that they have not been purchased from "conflict zone" countries, which include Congo and neighboring countries...

The Dodd-Frank Bill appears to "nudge" the gold industry towards a certification process....It will take some time, but don't be surprised to find that down the road a "Kimberley Process" will be created for gold and that all newly manufactured gold coins and gold bars will be stamped with a unique serial number.

Then the serious tracking of who owns how many gold coins will begin.
Sadly, this is what appears at Zero Hedge today:
Forget "Blood Diamonds", Here Comes "Conflict Gold"


In what could be the oddest development in the precious metals market in a long time, the World Gold Council has just unveiled an initiative whose sole purpose is to combat "conflict gold." From the just released notice: "The World Gold Council today announces that, working together with its member companies and the leading gold refiners, it has produced a draft framework of standards designed to combat gold that enables, fuels or finances armed conflict. The draft standards represent a significant, industry-led response to this challenge and are designed to enable miners to produce a stream of newly-mined gold which is certified as ‘conflict free’ on a global basis.".. 

More from the WGC:

After almost a year of work, the draft standards are currently being ‘stress-tested’ by leading gold mining companies and refineries, as part of the development process. The World Gold Council recognises the multi-faceted nature of this initiative and is seeking input that will foster a collaborative and comprehensive solution and is, therefore, undertaking consultations with stakeholders. Interested parties including governments, NGOs, the investment community, artisanal miners, end-users and other participants in the gold supply chain are being invited to review the draft standards and to provide their feedback by 1 September 2011. There will also be continuing work and dialogue on related issues such as recycled gold, audit and assurance.

Aram Shishmanian continued: “The gold market is uniquely complex. It is difficult to track specific consignments from the mine to the end user because it is easily melted down and co-mingled with other sources of gold. So the success of any certification system will depend upon the co-operation and commitment of many parties in the gold supply chain. The work on the standards is well advanced, but we want all those committed to addressing conflict issues to contribute their ideas. We are aiming for a comprehensive framework which commands confidence, credibility and broad support. We look forward to working with organisations that use gold to in developing an integrated certification process that avoids duplication and meets the needs of all stakeholders.”
So what is behind this tracking of gold? The World Gold Council sent Zero Hedge this clarification which points to the Dodd-Frank Act, which we iudentified last year:
The WGC has provided us with the following clarification to our rhetorical query on deciding who the blacklisted country is: "The reason the DRC is the focus is due to section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act which specifically identifies that country as the reason for the legislation. You can read our submission to the SEC on S. 1502 on our website for further details on our POV."
Bottom line: If you understand the "Kimberely Process" which certifies which diamonds are not "conflict diamonds", you have to understand that the process won't stop at the mining source. Eventually all gold will be required to be "proved" that it comes from a non-conflict zone and there is no way that can even be attempted without a serial number on each coin. We are not there, yet. But the program announced by the World Gold Council is sadly another significant step toward the attempt to track all gold. The attempt will be made.