I recommended your article - very good.  0.3g/t the chinese are willing to mine!!!!  Of course, the environment goes to to the gutter over there.  Cyanide everywhere.

At this age, whenever I read an article like that, I fire up my Critical Thinking.  I figure such articles don't just randomly appear in the press.  They just don't.

So I ask two main things: 1) who is paying / who needs to get this message out?, and 2) what is the strategy of firing our imaginations in this way?

It could be a lot of things.  Articles like this appear regularly to "normalize" the conversion of the vast Chinese foreign currency reserves into hard and financial assets overseas - cf. the large Chinese investment into Blackstone and other large financial hedge funds, mines and resources in South America, Africa and all over Asia, Husky Oil in Canada, etc etc.  They can see much better alternatives to US T-bills, but they have to smooth the waters to avoid getting the gate shut on them for nationalistic or similar reasons.

The philippines has an amazing and fascinating history in the gold area.  Japanese, american and now chinese.  It is not as what meets the eye.

It could also be a means for internal chinese political/financial elements to justify the expansion of chinese exploration.

There is also the publishing angle - who owns the company that printed this?  The US and canadian media are almost entirely owned by 5 companies controlled by 2 "cabals", if you will.

Just as Goldman Sachs can push the price of gold around at will (nearly), these key companies and people push the popular "will" around (Hey, but wait!  What's the latest on Britney Spears!  Princess Diana!  blah blah).

I'd love to know what you all think about this in relation to the very interesting article you brought up.

Yup, I've been called verbose.  But tell me it's not quality!