New buying centres test gold price fairness

You see, formal mineral buying centres are now operating in several gold districts, where diggers can weigh their gold openly, get a receipt and see the day's reference price on a board. We visited two of them and talked to the people in the queue.

01What the diggers told us

The ones we spoke to liked the scale being public. Before, the buyer's scale was in his own pocket, so to say. Some still complained that the price on the board is below what they hear on the radio, and nobody at the centre could explain the gap well.

02The middlemen are still there

Outside the gate the old buyers are waiting with cash, and cash today beats a fair price next week. Until the centres pay on the spot, many will keep selling at the gate.

03Our reading

Now, it is a real step, not a poster. Make payment immediate and publish how the reference price is set, and these centres can move a good share of the trade onto record. For now, we watch and we wait.