European Central banks keep demanding the return of their gold bullion from the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reducing the gold stockpile kept under the streets of Manhattan to its lowest level in decades; economist Lew Rockwell is convinced that the move is an indication that Europe is desperately striving for independence. Gold always glitters, and once upon a time, the reputation... 

An asteroid believed to be carrying up to 90 million tons of platinum in its core, as well as other rare and precious materials, is about to swoosh past our planet. The news has left developers of asteroid-mining technologies intrigued. The platinum-rich asteroid officially named 2011 UW158, is 452 meters by 1,011 meters in size and will pass Earth at a distance of an estimated 2.4 million kilometers,... 

Striking platinum miners gather outside the Amplats mine in Rustenburg, South Africa on October 5, 2012. The world’s biggest platinum producer, Amplats has fired 12,000 workers after they held a wildcat strike for three weeks at its mine in South Africa’s eastern town of Rustenberg. “Approximately 12,000 striking employees chose not to make representations, nor attend the hearings, and have... 

Russia offered Zimbabwe to conclude an intergovernmental agreement about the mutual protection of investments. Russian companies may thus obtain an opportunity to develop one of the world’s largest deposits of platinum. In return, Zimbabwe, which remains under the influence of sanctions from the USA and EU, will receive military hardware from Russia. Moreover, Russia intends to ship a large...