Is the play here in holding Physical Gold Metal or the Gold Mining equities?
Peter Spina: When you invest in mining stocks you take on a greater degree of risk; for that you are entitled to a greater reward. As we saw last year when the markets collapsed, mining equities dropped quite severely. Valuations on many of the stocks went down 70%, 80%, 90% – so these equities are a lot more volatile and sensitive to general market conditions. There are arguments for and against, but I believe a good portfolio should contain both bullion and mining stocks and, within the mining stocks, include more stable mining equities and some high-risk speculative investment opportunities such as exploration plays. But I believe the mining stocks, the gold stocks, will outperform the metal itself. TGR: You mentioned that an investor should be looking at fairly stable equities along with some more speculative exploration opportunities. Do you define “stable” as the majors? Peter Spina: Yes, those that would be classified as senior Gold companies, with annualized gold production in
