Virgin Gold Convertible Preferred Shares – Platinum (CPS-PLATINUM)

Virgin Gold Convertible Preferred Shares – Platinum (CPS-PLATINUM)
April 26th, 2012
Dear Shareholders:

Hold on to your hats!
Virgin Gold Mining Corporation will be offering CPS-PLATINUM to all qualified shareholders effective the 1st of May 2012.

I need to address a few important points with regard to CPS-PLATINUM.

1. The need for funds. Due to the fact that Platinum mining is a new project for the company, the requirement for funds is not like our gold mining project. Therefore, management has decided to offer this investment opportunity to selected shareholders and set a limit to their subscription. Furthermore, the need for funds will be strictly controlled in the sense that management will decide to approve only X% (not all) of subscriptions every week, in accordance with the amount of funds needed for the project. Management wants to avoid holding extra cash that it does not need and bear the burden of paying dividends of the subscribed shares. In this way, management will be able to offer CPS-PLATINUM investments to its shareholders at an even higher return compared to CPS-GOLD.

2. Risk. It is wrong to consider that investment in CPS-PLATINUM represents a higher/lower risk compared to CPS-GOLD. For CPS-GOLD, the company uses the funds to invest in gold income generating activities, thus paying dividends in troy ounces of gold. For CPS-PLATINUM, the company uses the funds to invest in platinum mining activities, thus paying dividends in troy ounces of platinum. Theoretically speaking, if the CPS-PLATINUM investment goes bad, it does not affect the CPS-GOLD investment and vice-versa as we have created different special purpose vehicles for both sets of investments.

3. Many parameters such as limits and eligibility status may be adjustable from time to time and I urge shareholders to follow our news releases closely.

Below are the fine points of the CPS-PLATINUM offering:

Offer Price:
USD1.00 a share

Eligibility:
1. A shareholder of Virgin Gold for a minimum of 1 year
2. VG Premier Shareholder

Subscription Limit:
The current limit is set at a ratio of every two CPS-GOLD to one CPS-PLATINUM. For example if a shareholder owns 100,000 CPS-Gold, he/she is only eligible to apply for a maximum of 50,000 CPS-PLATINUM.

Minimum Application:
100 CPS-PLATINUM

Application Procedure:
1. Go to 1.31 in your shareholder’s account to apply.
2. A credit amount equivalent to your application must be available in your credit account. For example: If you apply for 20,000 CPS-PLATINUM at USD1.50 per share; you need 20,000 x 1.50 = 30,000 credits to apply.
3. Credit amount equivalent to your application will be deducted from your credit account.
4. Application is only open on Saturdays.
5. The acceptance of the application is not a guarantee of approval/subscription to CPS-PLATINUM.

Approval Procedure:
1. Approval of CPS-PLATINUM applications will be released every Monday or Tuesday of the following week. For example: If you apply on Saturday, the next day would be Sunday and then Monday and followed by Tuesday. Approval for all applications will be released either on Monday or Tuesday.
2. Management expects to receive many applications for CPS-PLATINUM from shareholders every week. Therefore it’s highly possible that only a certain amount of your application will be approved. For example: If you apply for 50,000 CPS-PLATINUM, you may only be allocated 40,000 CPS-PLATINUM that week. You may try to apply for the balance of 10,000 CPS-PLATINUM the following week.
3. Un-used credits will be automatically returned to your credit account together with the approval allotment.

Dividend:
Dividend is payable every 30 calendar days in troy ounces of platinum. The 1st day of calculation is the approval date, not the application date. Shareholders will know the contractual dividend payout when they apply for CPS-PLATINUM under “1.31 Subscribe CPS” in their shareholder account. Dividend in platinum is freely convertible to credits and vice versa.

Un-subscription:
Un-subscription of CPS-PLATINUM is only allowed after 60-days from the day of approval. The un-subscription price will be at the current month set price for CPS-PLATINUM, not at the purchased price.

Share Transfer:
CPS-PLATINUM is not freely transferable among shareholders, unlike CPS-GOLD.

Group and Referral Incentive:
There is no referral incentive paid for CPS-PLATINUM subscriptions. The good news is that the CPS-PLATINUM and CPS-GOLD monthly subscription volume will be merged for group bonus calculation.

Trading Account:
There is no spot platinum trading unlike gold.

Premier Status:
CPS-PLATINUM will not be included for calculation of Premier Status.

Listing:
Similar to CPS-GOLD, we plan for listing of this investment vehicle (CPS-PLATINUM) sometime in the future.

Conclusion:
The launch of CPS-PLATINUM is an amazing landmark for Virgin Gold.

I hope shareholders do not view CPS-PLATINUM as another opportunity to invest in another investment with a higher ROI relative to CPS-GOLD. It would be unfortunate for you to look at it this way.

I hope you see this as a decent effort by the company to offer you the chance to diversify your investment in another asset class, platinum. Platinum is less subject to speculation and price fluctuation. Platinum is a precious metal that is used and not kept. Historically, platinum price is usually higher than gold but recent events may suggest otherwise.

For management, this is an opportunity for the company and its shareholders to explore another financial product. Fingers crossed that CPS-PLATINUM will be even more successful than CPS-GOLD.

Thank you.

Kenneth Elinger
President
Virgin Gold Mining Corporation

Publish project to the MERAR Site (The Emerging Markets Investment Network)

https://www.merar.com/investors/investment-projects/energy-natural-resources-mining/malaysia/worldwide-offshore-tax-free-gold-investment-project-subscribing-to-convertible-preferred-stocks/

VGMC RETURN IN 3 YEARS

Current Price Share Per Unit For March 2012 = USD1.40/Share
Estimate Gold Price = USD1700/oz

Gold investment, paper style

BY LISA GOH

One can now invest in gold minus the bulk, through what is casually termed as paper gold'.
When Neng Azhanie Adzman, 27, got married in March two years ago, the first gift she received from her mother-in-law was a gold bracelet.
“Most Malay girls will have gold jewellery, that's the norm. Also, my husband's family from Kelantan really believes in investing in gold.
“The problem, though, is that I'm not really comfortable wearing jewellery, so I've never been the type to buy gold jewellery,” she says.
So when she and her husband chanced upon a leaflet promoting the gold deposit account at a local bank in June last year, they decided to go for it.
Since that initial investment of RM500, Neng Azhanie has invested RM15,000 in gold. However, she recently moved her investments back to physical gold, for personal and religious reasons.

“Over the years, the value of gold has been going up. I think this is something which will be valuable for me to have in the long term,” she says.
Another investor, who only wanted to be identified as Adrian, says he had just opened a gold deposit account.
“I've always known you can invest in gold but in my mind, it has always been physical gold. It was only recently that my family members told me about the gold deposit account,” he says.
“I've only made a small investment, but it's a start. I'll see how things go this year before I decide whether to invest more. I am looking at gold to diversify my portfolio.”
With the price of gold soaring about 511% from US$278.95 (RM840) per ounce 10 years ago, to about US$1,700 (RM5,115) per ounce to date, consumers are not the only ones realising the potential of gold investments. Banks have been taking note too.
Maybank's Community Financial Services head Lim Hong Tat says the public's response to its Maybank Gold Investment Account (MGIA) has been very good since it was relaunched in May 2011. (It was previously called the Gold Savings Passbook Account.)
Golden returns: With the price of gold soaring about 511%, demand for gold investments has grown. — AFP
“From the repositioning of MGIA from May 2011 till March 6 this year, the number of accounts has grown by more than 100%.
“Demand for gold investments has grown. Just over a period of 11 months, the number of accounts, as well as the investment value for MGIA, has more than doubled its size,” he says.
The MGIA allows investors to buy and sell gold at a daily price in ringgit via a passbook without the hassle of keeping physical gold.
“One of the key features is that it requires only 1g of gold to open an account. The subsequent buying and selling is also fixed at a minimum of 1g of gold.
“When investing in gold, customers look for affordability, security, better returns, better protection and convenience,” he says.
Similarly, CIMB Bank's Retail Financial Services head Peter England says the public's response to the bank's Gold Deposit Account, which starts at the ringgit equivalent of 5g of gold, has been “very encouraging”.
“Since launching the Gold Deposit Account in January last year, we have recorded a healthy average of RM25,000 investment per account. We now have close to 20,000 investors who have invested in this product,” he says.
What are the benefits of investing in gold?
We advise customers to hold gold as part of their portfolio. It’s a hedge against inflation. - STEVEN YONG
“Gold is a non-yielding asset, unlike stocks which give a return in the form of dividends, or fixed deposit which earns interest. However, gold has appreciated steadily over the last 10 years and has shown good returns.,” he explains.
“The price of gold in the interbank market has appreciated over 400% over the last 10 years, giving an average return of 40% per annum.
“Over the last 10 years, gold has benefited from safe-haven demand amid the turmoil in global financial markets, the fall of the US dollar, the hike in oil price, and various geopolitical events.”
Customers, he says, frequently ask whether “paper gold” is backed by an equivalent placement in the gold market. He assures them that all customer purchases are hedged back-to-back in the interbank gold market.
Storing gold
Investing in “paper gold” has its benefits, including the practical aspect of storage and security, says Steven Yong, Strategist & Research head ofCitibank's Wealth Management Products.
“If you're buying small amounts of gold, like jewellery and wafers, you have a place to store it and you're not worried about robbers. But if you're looking at investing in large amounts, then it becomes a problem,” he says.
“Where are you going to store the gold? Do you have adequate security? There are facilities to do that but in Malaysia, they are not readily accessible. Even with safe deposit boxes, how much gold can that hold? I'm talking about really large amounts.”
When advising customers on investments, Yong says Citibank always takes a portfolio basis approach.
“We advise customers to hold gold as part of their portfolio. It's a hedge against inflation. I can't tell you how much it will go up, but if you have it as part of your portfolio, gold can offset some of your volatility and the under-performers in other asset classes,” he says.
Citibank also offers a gold account, launched in July 2010, which requires a minimum investment of US$5,000 (RM15,050).
But what are the risks of investing in “paper gold”?
“The biggest risk would be market risk. Investors have to be aware that gold prices will fluctuate according to global market prices. And because it's in foreign currency, there is also an exchange rate risk as well. They have to take that into account,” Yong explains.
Naturally, the next question would be where is gold headed this year?
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd economist Barnabas Gan says that while gold has shifted from being a safe haven asset to behaving like a risk asset, his forecast is that it will climb to about US$1,800 (RM5,417) per ounce by the end of the year.
“That is on the assumption that QE 3 (third round of quantitative easing in the US) does not roll out. If it does, we are looking at gold prices of over US$2,000 (RM6,019) per ounce at the end of the year.
“At the moment, it's at fair value. There's definitely room for it to go up,” he says.
(Quantitative easing is a government monetary policy which is occasionally used to increase the money supply by buying government securities or other securities from the market. Quantitative easing increases the money supply by flooding financial institutions with capital, in an effort to promote increased lending and liquidity. The US Federal Reserve has so far rolled out two rounds of quantitative easing dubbed QE1 and QE2.)
If you're wondering whether gold investments are for you, Standard Chartered Bank's general manager of Wealth Management Lilian Long has this to say: “It's important for you to know your own risk appetite, so that the bank can do the appropriate risk profiling for you. The investor also needs to know what his holding power is.
“If you put this money in, but you think you will need to take it out within a few months, then there is always that risk this investment may not work for you.
“With properties, it's all about location, location, location! With investments, it's diversify, diversify, diversify! One cannot go into a single mono-product solution. It's like putting all your eggs in one basket.”
The bank promotes gold investments through its Premium Currency Investment Gold, but it requires a minimum investment of RM250,000 or its equivalent in foreign currencies. For individuals with net assets exceeding RM3mil, they can invest RM50,000 or its equivalent in foreign currencies.

Citigroup: Gold at $2,400 in 2012 & $3,400 Ahead

BY MARK O'BYRNE
March 5, 2012
Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,698.00, EUR 1,286.17, and GBP 1,073.60 per ounce.
Friday's AM fix was USD 1,714.50, EUR 1,292.99, and GBP 1,076.14 per ounce.
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold fell $3.10 in New York Friday and closed at $1,711.60/oz. Gold fell in Asia prior to modest price falls in Europe which has gold now trading at $1,696.43/oz.
Gold fell by nearly 3.5% last week – the largest one week fall since the week of Dec 18. Gold's intraday and monthly low from the "Leap Year Gold Massacre" is $1,688/oz. Technical damage continues and a breach of this level could see gold quickly fall to support at $1,650/oz.
Gold 1 Year Chart – (Bloomberg)
Gold is being supported by Asian physical demand, which has picked up again and was robust in Asia overnight. Asian jewelry makers are reported to have been using this dip to stock up on gold.
Besides Asian jewelers, many Asian money managers and hedge funds continue to see the value in the yellow metal and buy on price weakness.
Gold is also supported by good retail and institutional demand internationally as seen in the new record ETF gold holdings last week. CFTC data shows that hedge funds, bullion banks and other institutions also remain positive on gold and increased their net long positions last week – rising by 12,259 contracts or 7% from a week earlier.
The EU’s second three-year funding and a surprise policy easing by the Bank of Japan a few weeks ago has pressured the euro and the yen making gold increasingly attractive to holders of these currencies. Economists believe that the ECB will keep interest rates low at 1% until deep into 2013 on economic concerns and despite high oil prices and the impact of the money that they’ve flooded into the market.
Continuing negative real interest rates and global currency debasement are strong fundamentals leading most analysts to forecast much higher prices. 
Citigroup have said that they believe that gold will rise to $2,400/oz. in 2012 and by $3,400/oz. in “the coming years”.
However, Citi’s Tom Fitzpatrick warned of price weakness in the short term and said there is a “real danger” that there may be a correction to $1,600/oz. which would provide an even better buying opportunity.
Citi are also cautious near term on oil and silver.
Production of gold in Australia slid again last year, despite gold fetching higher nominal prices than ever before.
According to gold experts, Surbiton Associates, 264 tonnes of gold were produced last year, two tonnes less than in 2010.
The 264 tonnes equated to about 8.5 million ounces and ensures that Australia remains a major player in gold, with only China producing more last year. The United States was the world's third-biggest producer with 240 tonnes.
Australia's gold production was well below the nation's production peak in the late 1990s. 
This further suggests the possibility of peak gold production. Of the world’s four biggest gold producers (China, Australia, the US and South Africa), only China has managed to increase gold production in recent years and this Chinese gold is used in China to meet the rapidly growing demand for gold jewelry and coins and bars as stores of value in China.
Thus Chinese gold is not exported into the international market which means that the supply/demand balance in gold is remains tight and the last Wednesday's manipulated sell off provides yet another buying opportunity.
Other News
(Reuters Global Gold Forum) -- Morgan Stanley this morning say stay long gold, even after Bernanke's comments last week were interpreted as signaling less chance of QE3. However, we believe that the move last week was profit taking predicated by the news rather than a change in fundamentals. 
The drivers of the long-term uptrend in gold remain intact, most notably negative real rates," MS say. 
According to their "Commodity Thermometer", MS are most bullish on gold and most bearish on zinc, although of the 20 commodities listed, platinum is in 17th place. 
Morgan Stanley say: "We are less bullish on the Platinum Group Metals. Platinum lacks safe haven status and has limited investment demand. With jewelry and the automotive industry as key end markets, slowing global GDP and lower discretionary spending put demand at risk." 
(Bloomberg) -- RBS Says Central Banks Will Buy 300 Tons of Gold This Year  Central banks will buy 300 metric tons of gold this year, Royal Bank of Scotland Plc said.
China, Russia and India have been the biggest buyers and Switzerland, France and the Netherlands the biggest sellers since the first European central bank gold agreement to limit sales, according to the RBS report e-mailed today.
(Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley Says ‘Stay Long Gold’ on Negative Real Rates Gold will climb mostly because real interest rates are still negative, Morgan Stanley said. There is still a 75 percent chance of another round of quantitative easing in the U.S., Hussein Allidina, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in an e-mailed report today.
(Bloomberg) -- China’s January Gold Imports From Hong Kong 33,039 Kilograms  Hong Kong government announced January gold exports which showed China’s January gold imports from Hong Kong were 33,039 kilograms 
(Bloomberg) -- Gold Traders Increase Bets on Price Rise, CFTC Data Shows  Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long position in New York gold futures in the week ended Feb. 28, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 193,220 contracts on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders report. Net-long positions rose by 12,259 contracts, or 7 percent, from a week earlier. 
Gold futures fell this week, dropping 3.7% to $1,709.80 a troy ounce at today's close. Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users were net-short 245,351 contracts, an increase of 16,049 contracts, or 7%, from the previous week. 
Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices.
(Bloomberg) -- Silver Traders Increase Bets on Price Rise, CFTC Data Shows Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long position in New York silver futures in the week ended Feb. 28, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 30,003 contracts on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders report. Net-long positions rose by 3,338 contracts, or 13%, from a week earlier. 
Silver futures fell this week, dropping 2.5% to $34.53 a troy ounce at today's close. Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users were net-short 44,593 contracts, an increase of 5,405 contracts, or 14%, from the previous week. 
Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices.
Silver Silver is trading at $34.22/oz., €25.95/oz. and £21.62/oz. 
Platinum Group Metals  Platinum is trading at $1,663.50/oz., palladium at $698.00/oz. and rhodium at $1,475/oz. 
Mark O'Byrne is executive director of Ireland-based GoldCore.

Gold Falls in ’Manic’ Plunge

By Debarati Roy - Mar 1, 2012 6:27 AM GMT+0800
Gold futures fell as much as $100 to below $1,700 an ounce on signs that that the Federal Reserve will refrain from offering more monetary stimulus to bolster the U.S. economy.
In testimony before Congress today, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke gave no signal that the central bank will take new steps to boost liquidity. The dollar rose as much as 0.8 percent against a basket of major currencies, eroding the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Yesterday, gold reached $1,792.70, a three-month high, even as coin sales by the U.S. mint slumped in February .
Enlarge image
Gold in Atlanta. Photographer: Chris Rank/Bloomberg

Play Video
Feb. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke delivers his semi-annual report on monetary policy to the House Financial Services Committee in Washington. (This report contains opening statements. Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video
Feb. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington about the central bank's monetary policy. (This is an excerpt from the hearing. Source: Bloomberg)
Enlarge image
Gold bars. Photographer: Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images
“People were expecting that the Fed would loosen policies, even if the perception is that the economy is doing well,” James Dailey, who manages $215 million at TEAM Financial Management LLC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, said in a telephone interview. “The investor sentiment changed as the Fed committed to nothing. This is the manic nature of the market.”
In electronic trading on the Comex in New York, gold futures for April delivery fell $90.30, or 5 percent, to $1,698.10 at 5:14 p.m., compared with yesterday’s settlement. Earlier, the price tumbled as much as $100, or 5.6 percent, to $1,688.40, the lowest for a most-active contract since Jan. 25.
The settlement at the close of floor trading was $1,711.30, down 4.3 percent, the most since Dec. 14. The price, down 1.7 percent this month, has gained 9.2 percent in 2012.

Bullish Bets

In the week ended Feb. 21, hedge funds and money managers boosted bullish bets on gold futures by 9.9 percent to 179,132 contracts, the highest since Sept. 13, the latest government data showed on Feb. 24.
Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold rose to a record 2,403.2 metric tons today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Assets increased 0.4 percent, the most since Jan. 27. The total reached an all-time high for the third time in four sessions.
“Bernanke’s comments seem to have eliminated hopes of U.S. quantitative easing coming anytime soon,” William O’Neill, a partner at Logic Advisors in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, said in a telephone interview after the Comex settlement. “There were excessive net longs on hopes of more credit easing, so the market was vulnerable to these kind of statements, and it almost seemed as if Bernanke was trying to take the steam out of the commodity market.”
Sales of gold coins by the U.S. mint tumbled 83 percent in February to an estimated 21,000 ounces from January, data on the Mint’s website showed today.

Inflation ‘Subdued’

The Fed chairman said today that the inflation outlook is “subdued.” Gold had climbed this month as gasoline costs jumped, spurring demand for the metal as a hedge against increasing consumer prices.
Keeping monetary stimulus is warranted even as the unemployment rate falls and rising crude-oil prices may cause inflation to accelerate temporarily, Bernanke said.
The Fed said today in its Beige Book business survey that the U.S. economy expanded at a “modest to moderate pace” in January and early February, bolstered by manufacturing.
Total Comex volume was an estimated 342,701 contracts, the highest since Jan. 27.

4 Reasons Why Gold Could Hit $2,500

And how these powerful catalysts threaten your finances

The gold express pulled into the station back in December, merely a pause to consolidate its 9.3% gain for 2011. It let some passengers off and let others get on board before it rolled again.
Now it’s about to leave the station again.
It’s new destination? $2,500? Or higher?
Let’s take a look at some of the powerful engines driving the price of gold.

Catalyst #1: Spend & Print

The new year got off to a reckless start for both U.S. monetary and fiscal policy. If you recall, on Jan. 25, the Federal Reserve committed to three more years of its zero interest rate policy. The Fed intends to maintain its Fed Funds Rate target of 0%-0.25% until late 2014.
You and I both know this deserves a moment of attention.
The Fed cannot maintain low interest rates by simply closing its eyes and clicking its heels together. For the Fed to maintain these rock-bottom rates, it will have to buy more U.S. Treasury bonds. That’s more debt monetization. That’s more money printing.
If you’re looking to grab a few easy bucks on your savings, forget about it. This policy means there will be little interest rate return to be found for your money for years to come.
Simply put, the Fed is driving Americans to spend, not save.
And spending is already out of control here in the U.S. Look no further than the burgeoning U.S. debt. Senate action in late January quietly let the national debt ceiling climb by another $1.2 trillion, up now to $16.4 trillion.
More Federal debt means a cheaper dollar.
But what’s even worse for you and me is that the Fed’s ultra-low interest rate policies don’t just equal no return on our savings … it also means more inflation … it means you and I are will pay a lot more for everything we buy in the months ahead.
Are you prepared for $9 milk, $13 bread and $10 gas?
Runaway inflation is by far one of the biggest threats to your family and finances in the months ahead. But you can prepare today. Join me for a FREE online seminar to discuss how to protect yourself from runaway inflation and an economic meltdown.

Catalyst #2: Global Printing Presses

The central banks of the world have all loaded up on new inkjet cartridges.
The Bank of England and Japan have fired up the money printing presses. China’s money printing has been massive. And even Switzerland began printing money to lower the value of the Swiss franc against the euro.
But here’s the one you really need to worry about …
The European Central Bank is orchestrating huge increases in the euro money supply to bailout sovereign European debt. It has shoveled the money out to hundreds of banks at 1% interest for three years. Altogether, it’s a $660 billion European money printing operation.
Do you understand what this means for Americans like you and me? For our answer, we need to look no further than the Fed’s massive debt buying operation, QE2, which was similar in size to the ECB’s current operation?
It helped drive gold to new highs in 2011.
This race to the bottom, as central banks rush to destroy the value of their currencies, could make 2012 history’s first year of worldwide inflation.
Runaway inflation and the impending Eurozone collapse are just two of the biggest threats we face in the months ahead. You must act now to prepare and protect yourself from the fallout.

Catalyst #3: Gold for Oil

We all know that global oil trade is priced in dollars. But thanks to the Fed’s 24/7 money printing press, this won’t be the case for much longer.
As I discussed at American Breaking Point, a news source in Israel reported that India intends to bypass the U.S. and European Union sanctions of Iran. India needs to import three million barrels of oil per day, and with this new agreement with Iran, India will purchase its oil for … gold.
And India is not alone. China is expected to begin using gold for oil purchases from Iran as well.
This all adds a powerful dynamic to the gold market. It promises substantial new world demand for gold to facilitate the oil trade. It also represents the global remonetization of gold as a key dollar alternative.
The changing role of the dollar in the oil market is eerily familiar. The world’s oil used to trade in British pounds. Even until the early 1970s, a fourth of the global petroleum trade was still conducted in the British pound sterling. But serial devaluations of the pound finally made it so unattractive that OPEC abandoned the pound entirely and implemented its policy of 100% dollar pricing.
What’s past is prologue.

Catalyst #4: Failing Banks

Just days before MF collapsed and $1.2 billion in client money went missing, its chief financial officer told Standard & Poor’s that it had “never been stronger.”
Maybe so. Maybe during its entire existence it was never to be trusted at all. But three years after the mortgage meltdown, it is an incident that should focus the mind: the risk of failing institutions — banks, funds, brokerages, insurance companies — remains as high today as it was in 2008 when they were falling like flies.
Since banks don’t mark their assets to the market, we don’t know the value of the assets on their books. They are awash in derivative risk, and the largest have dangerously large exposure to the European debt crisis. And the largest financial institutions of our time have demonstrated themselves to be utterly incapable of managing their own affairs.
As people begin to realize that banks are not the paragons of stability that they may have been in another era, they will continue moving their hard-earned wealth to gold.
Over the last year, the University of Texas endowment fund, the second-largest such fund, added a billion dollars’ worth of gold to its portfolio. This would have been unthinkable in an earlier era when conservatively run endowments invested in nothing but blue chips.
More astonishingly, the fund chose to take delivery of the gold. Kyle Bass, the Dallas hedge fund manager who advised the endowment in the transaction, told Bloomberg news that an assessment of institutional risk played a role in the decision. “If you own a paper contract where they can only deliver you 10 cents on the dollar or less, you should probably convert it to physical,” said Bass.
Gold Is Chugging Up the Track
When you and I — and all Americans — take a sober look at the risk of today’s financial system, the spending of governments enabled by the money printing of their central banks, and the quiet but accelerating movement away from the global dollar standard, we will seek an alternative — an alternative that cannot be printed or is not dependent on the promises of a financial structure that is evidently crumbling under the load of its debt.
There is only one such monetary commodity. It is gold.
The train is about to leave the station. All aboard!

2 Easy Ways to Invest in Gold

Got a brokerage account? You're already halfway there

So you finally decided to invest in gold.
Who could blame you? Gold’s surge to $1,900 per ounce was one of the biggest market stories of 2011, and while prices took a brief retreat, they’re back on the march again this year. Worries about U.S. finances, global spending, energy prices and a host of others have experts predicting everything between a “modest” increase to $2,000 and a rise to $2,500. Heck, one expert even thinks $10,000 gold is on the horizon!
But now that you’ve decided you want in the gold game, you have to ask yourself: How? While getting into gold isn’t as simple as walking up to Fort Knox and charging a bar of bullion to your credit card, investors with a basic brokerage account can play the yellow metal in a number of ways.
Let’s take a look at two of the most common methods of  investing in gold — beyond actually buying gold bars or coins, of course:

Physically Backed ETFs

Physically backed exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are as straightforward as you can get without buying the bars yourself. They’re great for everyday investors, considering the high cost of actually buying, storing and securing gold bullion.
In short, a physically backed fund actually holds the metal, and the fund’s price changes pretty much along with the price of gold (minus the fund manager’s fees).
This makes for a pretty simple investment thesis: If you think gold is going up and you don’t want the hassle of holding gold bars or coins in your basement, buy a fund.

Click to Enlarge The market has a number of physically backed ETFs, but most investors can stick to the two major players: The SPDR Gold Trust(NYSE:GLD) and the iShares Gold Trust(NYSE:IAU), the respective offerings of State Street (NYSE:STT) and BlackRock(NYSE:BLK). These ETFs hold more than $80 billion in assets and are as liquid as they come.

Click to Enlarge As you can see in the accompanying charts, not only do the ETFs ride alongside the price of gold, but with each other. IAU is up just 0.5 percentage points over GLD during the past five years. Hardly a reason to pick one over the other, but if you’re asking, IAU does hold the edge.
That edge is largely because the iShares Gold Trust has a slightly smaller expense ratio — 0.25% to the SPDR Gold Trust’s 0.4%. That means fees eat up less of your returns. But most everyday investors won’t notice the difference, which comes out to $1.50 for every $1,000 invested.

Gold-Mining ETFs

Gold mining ETFs are a more indirect way to play gold.
While trusts like GLD and IAU are more tethered to the price of gold because they hold physical bullion and nothing else, gold-mining ETFs — which hold stocks of companies that mine gold — deviate a bit, for several reasons.

10 Reasons why Gold may be an Insurance Policy

Most investors are drawn to gold because it has gone up over 400% in the past ten years. Not a bad track record, especially in light of the stock market suffering through the “lost decade”. However, wealth creation is not the primary reason to buy gold. Gold may serve like an insurance policy to insure against the many negative events that can occur in today’s global economy. Events such as:

1. The fragile economic recovery we are experiencing in the US.
   
2. The high level of debt we see in our cities, states and our Federal government.
   
3. The economic uncertainty we currently see in the European Union, Russia, Japan and many other parts of the world.
   
4. The sovereign debt crisis in Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
   
5. The geopolitical tensions that we see in the Middle East; India and Pakistan; North & South Korea and elsewhere
   
6. The volatile currency markets. Even Central Banks are becoming less reliant on paper money and trading it for gold.
   
7. The devaluation of the US dollar.
   
8. Investors trying to deal in financial markets that move at the speed of light and where “flash crashes” occur and one year later can still not be explained.
   
9. Inflation in the US and many other parts of the world as governments has chosen to just print money to cover their debts.
   
10. Black Swan Events. The earthquake that causes a tsunami that hits a nuclear reactor in Japan. The unexpected events with severe negative consequences that cannot be predicted. We know they are coming but we cannot say when and we cannot say what they will be.

Gold holds value in times of uncertainty where your other investments may not. There is an old saying, “put 10% of your money in Gold and 90% into stocks, bonds or cash. Then every night go to bed and hope Gold prices go down because that means there is a good chance your other investments went up.”  You purchase insurance on your home not because you want a tornado to hit, but in case a tornado hits.  Gold may be able to provide the same protection for your investment portfolio.

Dealers predict gold prices will still go higher, but warn of risks

MOUNT PLEASANT — Are you looking for a new investment?

For those who can afford it, metals such as gold and silver are still the way to go, multiple dealers agreed Sunday at the 74th annual Racine Numismatic Society Coin Show. But some cautioned there is still a risk.

Gold was at $1,774 an ounce Sunday, said Bill Spencer of Racine, who owns American Coin and Jewelry, at the corner of Highway 20 and Ohio Street.

That is up from about $800 an ounce in the beginning of 2008, before the recession hit. Silver is also up from about $15 then to $35.41 an ounce now.

On Sunday, an estimated 400 people attended the show at Roma Lodge, 7130 Spring St., with coin enthusiasts buying and selling coins, dollars and metals.

People probably should be holding on to a lot of it, but some people cannot afford to, Spencer said.

“If (the government) had to back our currency with gold, it would be worth $20,000 an ounce,” Spencer said. “If this (economy) gets good, gold and silver will get bad ... (but) do you think that will happen?” Spencer asked skeptically.

But Peter Gass, 46, of Sturtevant, who works at U.S. Bank and sells and buys coins at weekend shows, said he doesn’t think the value of gold and silver will keep going up.

“At the height of where it’s at, it’s unstable,” Gass said. “If you don’t like volatility, this might not be the place to be,” pointing to the real estate market and the dot-com bubble, which both burst.

For a more stable investment, Gass said he thinks coins are the way to go.

But Tom Rebler, a coin dealer from Waukesha and retired truck driver, said that for the average person gold and silver are a better way to go, because coin collecting can be very technical.

Also he estimates gold will reach at least $2,000 an ounce by the end of the year, and silver will go up to the low $40s.

Pete Laehr, 61, who owns a coin shop in Watertown, also said, “We haven’t seen the max.”

But in reality, many people cannot afford to buy right now, Laehr said.

People buy coins from him at shows like the one in Mount Pleasant, but not in his hometown, where people are just selling.

“It’s a good time to buy,” Laehr said. “But with the economy in Watertown, people are selling, not buying.”

‘Gold prices may hit $5,000’

 

Singapore: Gold may climb to a record $2,500 an ounce this year on demand from centralbanks and investors, according to Schroder Investment Management, which said a longer-term bull run may push the price to twice that figure.

The metal may trade between $1,500 and $2,500 this year, ending 2012 at about $2,250, Christopher Wyke, London-based productmanager for emerging-market debt, commodity and currency funds, said at a briefing in Singapore.

The bull run may last a further five to eight years, with the price coming near to $5,000, Wyke said yesterday, echoing a call that he made in 2008.

Spot gold, which peaked at $1,921.15 onSeptember 6, gained for an 11th year in 2011, buoyed by central-bank purchases andincreased haven demand driven by Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis.

Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by bullion are near an all-time high, according to data tracked by Bloomberg.

“Over the next five to eight years, it’s going to go considerably higher,” said Wyke. “We wouldn’t be surprised to see the price close to $5,000.” Schroder Investment manages about $10 billion in three commodities-related funds.

Can Virgin Gold Afford High Dividend Payout?

“Can Virgin Gold afford to pay high dividend to shareholders in the long run? Is the company’s financial portfolio stable? Is Virgin Gold overpaying? How long can Virgin Gold keep its commitment to CPS holders? When will Virgin Gold go for public listing?”

The company is being asked questions similar to the ones above by many of its shareholders around the world time and time again. Being the Chief Financial Officer of Virgin Gold, I am the person in the best position to answer these questions. With over 20 years of mining, investment and financial experience, I am sharing with you the latest insights of this corporation and industry from a financial perspective.

Let us start by looking at real market scenario and what we all experience on a daily basis regardless of whether we are from Europe, the Americas, Asia or Africa.

Now, how many times have all of you seen a listed company’s share appreciate from $1 a share to $3 in 3 months time following a profit call or a rating upgrade to outperform? How often do you see a company shares appreciate from $1.00 to $5.00 per share within 1 year as a result of corporate restructuring, a new contract with clients and a better business operation model? Let me refer to some examples here.

Shares of BAIDU, Inc (BIDU) rose by 2500% over 5 years, with an average raise of 500% per annum. In January 2009, BAIDU was trading at around USD15 per share and in January 2011, the share cost had risen to approximately USD120 per share.

Allied Nevada Gold Corp’s (ANV) share price rose from about USD2.00 in November 2008 to USD30.00 in February 2011. This represents an appreciation of about 1500% in just over two years.

For FORTUNE 500 companies, the best stock in 2010 was CC Media Holdings (CCMH) with a 222% appreciation whilst Las Vegas Sands (LVS) who held the second place, appreciated by 204%.

When you invest in these companies’ shares, you earn zero to 5% dividend per year but you earn somewhere between 200 – 500% return in monetary value from stock price appreciation.

What does all this have to do with Virgin Gold Mining Corporation? I am telling you that Virgin Gold is just like all these typical examples I quoted above. The only difference is that Virgin Gold’s share price appreciates by 5-10% per year but dividend and other incentives amount to about 200% per year.

While in the common market, listed companies pay you 5-10% dividend per year and stock value appreciates by 200-500%; Virgin Gold’s stocks appreciate 5-10% per year but dividend and incentive payout amounts to about 200% per year. As a non-listed corporation, we are able to control or rather suppress the appreciation of our stock value as it is not openly traded. When stock value is low, dividend seems high.

As you can see, there are no secrets in Virgin Gold. What Virgin Gold does is that it pays dividend, incentives and bonuses just like what other, very well run and profitable corporations do. It is just the other side of the coin. This is indeed a revolutionary financial technique and application. My staff in Asia heard some CPS holders call this the Virgin Gold – CPS REVOLUTION! I personally thank our Middle East investors for this term.

Your choice is between investing in the open stock market which will yield higher stock value with a lower dividend payout, or the consistent Virgin Gold stock value and a high dividend payout. In terms of monetary return on investment, your returns would be pretty similar in either case.

Having said that, if you are looking for getting the highest return of investment in the shortest period of time, subscribing to Virgin Gold Convertible Preferred Shares (VGCPS) would not be the ideal form of investment for you. When investing with Virgin Gold, both your dividend and share price is roughly fixed while in an open market, the value of your stocks is unlimited. However if an investor is taking a long term investment view, investing with Virgin Gold could yield a higher return as reinvestment of profits or dividend in a consistent environment over 3 to 5 years which will have a return of more than 10 times of the initial investment.

Putting what I have mentioned above aside, I want to highlight a few other facts that are often overlooked by many of our shareholders.

First of all, as Virgin Gold raise its capital from issuing fresh CPS with no borrowing, the corporation has no need for any loans and have neither short or long term debt. This enables the corporation to channel more of their operational profits into income generating operations after paying shareholder’s dividend.

Secondly, the corporation does not need any advertising, and neither does it have any need for promotional or corporate image expenditures like most public listed companies or companies that are actively seeking funding from the venture capitalist do. Our reasonable high dividend is enough to attract more new subscriptions from all over the world.

Thirdly, we use high information technology all across our business operations, management and administration. Having an administrative office only in Panama and investors’ relation offices in Asia and Europe coming up this year, we are able to operate at the lowest possible overheads.

Fourthly, being based in a tax-free offshore jurisdiction, Virgin Gold is able to re-invest 15 to 40% (normal onshore tax rate) more of its profits into income generating operations every year compared to its peers.

Taking into account the exponential model of re-investment and opportunity cost, all the extra savings that this corporation has made in the last 5 years may translate into an extra growth opportunity of over 1000%. These are the reasons why Virgin Gold is able to sustain a high growth rate and we foresee this corporation to outperform our peers for many more years.

Listing

As for listing Virgin Gold as a public company, this is still our long term plan. We hope we will be ready for this within 3 to 5 years’ time. Having said that, being ready as a corporation and actually going for it is two different matters. Being ready means we set all our Standard Operation Procedures and Protocols, Accounting and Corporate Governance like any listed company. Going public means we have to change the way we run our business, the way we pay dividend to our shareholders and subject ourselves to the regulations of the security commissions where we list. So our corporate vision is to make this corporation ready for listing by 2015, but whether or not we will actually be listed by then will be subject to many considerations. I hope our shareholders will not misrepresent our vision by informing potential shareholders that VGMC will be listed by 2015.

As the Chief Financial Officer, I just want to reassure you that this corporation has a long term working plan as well as the vision and financial power to fulfill its long term commitment to all shareholders and partners.

Thank you very much.

Peter Nolinski
Virgin Gold Mining Corporation – Chief Financial Officer
Virgin Gold Mining Corporation

Gold Mining Challenges

In terms of gold mining revenues, 2012 is expected to be another year of strong performances. Gold miners’ production costs are expected to continue rising, but as in 2011, gold prices are likely to continue providing insulation from most financial pressures. Still, gold miners will face their share of challenges in 2012 and beyond.

Low-grade mining

Gold miners are going to find themselves paying more to get less. Companies will need to devote more money to their exploration budgets, but in most cases, where there is return, it will be in the form of lower-grade resources. Large high-grade discoveries are hard to find.

Given current gold prices, increased numbers of low-grade projects may be deemed more economic than in the past, but they will also be more sensitive to rising production costs.

With regards to low-grade projects, Steven Letwin, CEO ofIAMGOLD (NYSE:IAG,TSX:IMG), said every penny makes a difference with respect to cost.

Furthermore, exploration and development projects are increasingly requiring gold miners to operate in underdeveloped locations. This often presents a host of challenges, many of which boost costs, especially with regards to accessing the needed infrastructure and electricity.

Letwin said it is going to be difficult for anyone to produce gold at less than $1,200 per ounce in terms of new discoveries.

Wage disputes

One result of high gold prices is higher expectations from workers. Demands for better wages and benefits have been on the rise and aren’t likely to subside.

Yesterday, Centerra Gold (TSX:CG) announced that unionized workers at its Kumtor mine are embarking on an illegal strike associated with demands that the company pay the mandatory employee contribution to the Kyrgyz Republic social fund. As a result, operations have been suspended. Further, Centerra has already said that anystoppages could have a significant impact on its ability to achieve the forecasted production.

Of 99 mining strikes which occurred from January 1, 2009 to December 1, 2011, most were at gold mines, and 70 percent were related to demands for higher wages, according to the 2012 Gold Price Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

These companies experienced an average production decline of 550 ounces per day, and the strikes often acted as a drag on their stock prices. The PwC report found that 53 percent of those companies saw their stock price decrease the day after a strike.

Investors

John Gravelle, Mining Leader for PwC, says investors are hesitant to get back into the market for equities. Last year’s market volatility has made risk, or even the perception of it, a much harder sell.

Miners are well aware that their business involves risks such as labor strikes and geopolitical issues, but is necessary to come to terms with the fact that investors are aware too. As other gold investment options, such as bullion or ETFs, are arguably safer, when investors do have the nerve to put money into gold mining equities, they also have mounting expectations. Attractive dividend policies are expected to be a persistent issue.

More companies are implementing dividends or increasing them, but gold miners need to make sure that pressure doesn’t skew their judgment. Dividend policies need to be both attractive and sustainable. Companies should give adequate consideration to whether their strategy for divvying up the wealth will conflict with their growth and other financial demands. Having to reduce or eliminate dividends tends to send a negative message.

Labor

Another labor-related challenge for gold miners is finding an adequate supply. As it stands, the scramble for workers is expected to intensify, and the more specialized the skills required, the more severe the problem is likely to become.

The Australian Mines and Metals Association has warned that hundreds of billions of dollars worth of the nation’s mining projects are at risk of struggling to survive or never coming to fruition if labor supply is not addressed.

For gold miners, the problem is aggravated by the obscure location in which many gold projects are located.

Letwin said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract talent to remote locations.

As gold miners contemplate this issue and attempt to develop strategies to deal with it, it should be remembered that they are not only competing with one another for skills and labor, but also with other industries. Some, such as the petroleum mining industry, are widely perceived as better employers. Competitive wages and incentives are going to become more prominent issues.

Accountability

Mounting concerns about resources funding rebel groups and pending conflict mineral legislation highlight another issue. In addition to caring about where miners operate, growing concern about how they operate is coming from all segments of society.

Gold miners will need to become accustomed to operating in environments where they are held to higher standards of accountability and transparency. The handling of issues such as community development and environmental protection are going to demand increasing amounts of attention.

Appeasing the various segments of society will be a phenomenal challenge. But, due to the potential for negative backlash from laborers, investors, and the public, companies are likely to find it beneficial to prioritize developing policies that avoid and reduce the perception of risks associated with gold mining.

SUBSCRIBE CPS OR SHARE VGMC

SUBSCRIBE CPS OR SHARE VGMC


1. Check account balance before you activate VGMC or subscribe share / additional lot. Make sure you have a enough minimum of VGMC credit for 1 lot activation are USD1350 for February 2012.

2. Click the arrows buttons.

3. Total number of shares in space we need to put 1 lot activation for 1000 or 2000 for 2 lots, click on marking the box we agree to the terms and conditions, click subscribe button CPS. Minimum value of credit is a credit to be available in the balance and transfer VGMC accounts for our subscribe for shares. After that, click confirm button.

CREDIT TOP UP VGMC

CREDIT TOP UP VGMC


This is the step to Top Up share directly from VGMC.

Minimum share that can be bought directly from company is 5000 share. It's a standard amount of share if you really serious to invest in VGMC, with 5000 share you can directly withdraw your money to your bank account. With 5000 share you will have good trading margin. With 5000 share you will receive some amount of dividend that can support you to run networking.


After registration is completed, you will receive SMS and email contain your account information. Log in into system using your shareholder ID or username and password provided in SMS / Email.


1) Click 1.0 Account > 1.14 Credit Top Up

2) After that click Top Up button.

3) A pop up will come out. Fill in the Top Up form. Please take note that, there are 2 ways to buy share from company:

a) Local Transfer

Some country has it own local agent (appointed by VGMC). When you choose local transfer, the system will automatically list down local bank that can be use. Choose of that bank listed. Let say if you choose ABC bank, VGMC will provide one local agent account for ABC bank. Therefore you need to bank in into that account. Usually VGMC will credited CPS credit within 24 hours.

b) International Transfer

If you choose international transfer, VGMC will provided international account. There might be some charges depend on the bank. Amount transfer is unlimited up to USD 1 million. Usually VGMC will credited CPS credit in 2-3 working days.

4) After you have completed top up form, click submit button. A ticket is created for that form. Go to main page, and you can see REQUEST TO TOP UP CREDIT ticket. Usually the status is IN PROGRESS. Click on that ticket and you can see bank account information provided by VGMC.

After issuing ticket to top up, do the money transfer and kept the transfer slip. Log in into system again and click on REQUEST TO TOP UP CREDIT TICKET. Write down information in bank slip such as time, location, date & amount. Finally scan that bank slip and uploaded into that ticket then click submit.

5) When VGMC credited the CPS credit, the status will turn to APPROVED.

6) Click on your name at the top, and one pop up will come out at the end of your name. You will see some amount of CPS credit in credit area.