Studying the current state of the world economy following, amongst other effects, the end of the commodity cycle, there is a growing concern that the worlds’ currencies, which have since 1913 been effectively fiat based (ie no value backing such as gold), will eventually collapse. Historically currencies do this. The US Dollar as the world’s reserve currency might remain the strongest of the lot until there is the impact of deflation and hyper-inflation resulting from the quantitative easing with fiat currency.

Ultimately, it is all a result of the debt based currency systems which have been manipulated to create the biggest debt bubble in the history of money and currencies. Anyone interested in the impact this is having on world trade should look up the Baltic Dry Index records. It is a very interesting metric that measures the shipping movements between continents. It is at the lowest index level in its history.

Out of most misfortune one hopes for the glimmer of positivity. In the current economic saga is the possibility that there will be a replacement world reserve currency that would be based on a value backing, and the most obvious is gold. Silver may have its role as well.

Some protagonists of this are predicting a massive hike in the gold price. Two interesting issues are evident. China is buying large quantities of gold, and the USA banking system and Fed are doing their best to suppress the price. Gold is no longer following the commodities index and going its own way.

SA does not have any perceptible agenda on the table, let alone observable action, to get economic growth going to uplift the rate of wealth generation and make an impact on the rating agencies. Would the rise in the gold price to such an extent happen such that it provides acceptable margins above the cost of recovery in a stable manner and be an option to get our gold mines going as before so as to help a bit?

It is of concern that we are losing, and have lost, a significant number of our experienced resources including Mining Engineers who have in the past managed our gold mining industry. We see them leaving the industry: retiring, leaving the country or moving in to other careers. From our historic role as number one we are way down now, not sure where.

For one hundred years SA has effectively grown its economy based on mining and commodities. The investment into that has almost ceased. Have we learnt anything from history that should have prepared us for the end of that boom, and undertaken development of other industries?

The NDP has proven to be stillborn and the excitement created in 2012 on the need to train up skilled resources to enable us to build the SIPs has waned into a dilemma that we now have surplus skills and no projects. It appears we have no funding for them now.