Another conspiracy theory................

[Catfish4u]

TPTB are driving down the price of pm's below the cost of mining. After the mining companies go into bankruptcy pm prices will skyrocket. The FED and it's member puppets will 'swoop down with the FED's zero percent interest rates and unlimited dollars to purchase most of the mining companies out of bankruptcy'. With pm prices skyrocketing the reopened mining companies will make the FED and its puppets trillions of $$$$. Thoughts?

[madman326]

sounds as plausible as any other i have heard !

[InfleXion]

I would think that the mines being nationalized is more likely than the Fed snatching them up, if there is much difference.

Shooting from the gut, I don't think the goal is to bankrupt the miners, but rather that they are simply collateral damage while the price is knocked down sufficiently to unload the short position (already done for the most part) and then go long so they can profit when the bull market resumes beyond their control, which seems to be approaching fast based on physcal outflows from the COMEX showing no signs of slowing. Remember that trend began while gold was $1600 and silver was $28. The smackdowns did not incite the drain from the exchanges. It was already underway. So it appears to me that the smackdowns were a reaction rather than the cause, as in taking what they can get and running off with the physical while the getting is good.

[AGgressive Metal]

I doubt it since most mines are outside the USA.

[wheeler_dealer]

Chances are that as smaller undercapitalized mining companies , that have already invested heavily in exploration and development, begin to have trouble the big players will swoop in and swallow them up.

[Lemon Thrower]

Jim Willie has mentioned that it is possible that the military will buy.

something is up. you have the big landlside in Nevada. A flood at the Grasberg in Indonesia. Huge delays for the project on the Argentian Chile border. strikes/riots in S. Africa. I know these things happen, but the number and frequency and stacked occurrences is highly unusual. if something sinister connects all of these, then you want to be out of the large miners.

you want to be out of the small miners as well because the metal price is below their price of production.

also, many will have to write down the value of goodwill incurred in M&A, which will result in huge accounting charges.

[silverflake]

China will beat them to it.

[galenrog]

Landslide in Nevada? Did I miss something? I know there was one at the copper pit near Magna, Utah, but that it quickly being dealt with.