Thousands of children as young as eight are risking their lives daily by working in Tanzanian small-scale gold mines, as they are constantly exposed to serious risks such as mercury poisoning and pit collapses, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Wednesday.

The global rights watchdog’s document, Toxic Toil: Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines, describes how children dig and drill in deep, unstable pits, work underground for shifts of up to 24 hours, and transport and crush heavy bags of gold ore. All this to support their impoverished families.

Children also face high risks of injuries from pit collapses and accidents with tools, as well as long-term health damage from exposure to mercury, breathing dust and carrying heavy loads.

Human Rights Watch also found that girls on and around mining sites face sexual harassment, including pressure to engage in sex work. Some girls become victims of commercial sexual exploitation and risk contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.

“Tanzanian boys and girls are lured to the gold mines in the hopes of a better life, but find themselves stuck in a dead-end cycle of danger and despair,” said in a press release Janine Morna, children’s rights research fellow at Human Rights Watch. “Tanzania and donors need to get these children out of the mines and into school or vocational training.”

The human rights group urged the country’s government and the international community to tighten control over this extreme form of child labour.

In 2009, the country launched a national action plan to eliminate this problem, and even banned under-18s from engaging in hazardous work, including mining. Fast-forward four years and the initiative still hasn’t accomplished the main goal of at least reduce the total number of children employed in mines.

Tanzania is Africa's fourth largest gold producer. In the first six months of 2013 exported over $1.8 billion of the precious metal, but the recent unrelenting slump in gold prices threatens to shut several of the country’s mines and curb investment.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/10645464/gold_investment_scams_how_to_avoid_them/
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TANA GOLDFIELDS Articles 10 Tips How to Avoid Gold Investment Scams

Before you invest a single hard earned penny, please read our tips on how to avoid common precious metals scams.

1. Research Each Company Thoroughly

Many of the common gold investment scams which are found today involve companies which are relatively new, and were started simply because of the high price and demand of precious metals today.

2. Check with Your Local Better Business Bureau (BBB)

If you are dealing with a local broker or company, check with your Better Business Bureau for any complaints or legal action taken against the company. If you are planning a gold investment in India then this step is not effective, and other methods of research may be needed.

3. Check the Online Gold Investment Forums

If you want to avoid gold investment scams, some of the best places to research potential companies and investments are the online forums about investing in gold and other precious metals. Many forums have posts concerning companies that are scams, so you can avoid them.

4. Never Travel Out Of the United States to Purchase Bullion

When you are considering all of your gold options, never travel outside of the United States with large amounts of money to purchase bullion. Some scams lure investors to foreign countries, where the investor may be robbed or even killed.

5. Use the Internet with Common Sense

Online offers for gold investment can be legitimate or they can involve scams. Use common sense and evaluate each offer before making any final investment decisions. There are many fake gold coins and bars being offered online.

6. If an Investment Seems Too Good To Be True, It Usually Is

A number of gold investment scams involve claims which seem too good to be true, and this is an indication that a scam is being perpetrated. Gold investment accounts, gold futures, and other investing types which do not involve taking possession of bullion can be a higher risk for fraud.

7. Only Use Trusted Companies To Buy Bullion From Or Invest With

If you are looking for gold bullion for sale, or a company or fund to invest in, make sure the company you choose has a reputation and history in the industry. There are many well-known and respected companies available, and you can avoid any scams by choosing a reputable one instead of an unknown.

8. Only Choose Quality Bullion With A Stamp Showing Weight, Quality And Manufacturer

If you want to avoid potential gold investment scams, make sure you choose a high quality gold like Credit Suisse or PAMP. These products carry the name and stamp of excellence, and are sought after by investors.

9. Buy in Small Amounts Initially

To avoid large purchases of fake gold bullion, you should always make a small initial purchase. This allows you to become comfortable with the supplier and to assess the quality of the gold you are investing in. Do not place large orders until you know and trust a company or supplier completely.

10. Watch Out For Nonexistent Gold

Gold investment scams can include mining shares and gold bullion which do not exist. When you invest in shares of a company or in gold that is purchased and stored for you, you may never see anything tangible to show your investment was actually made. After a little time the agent or broker disappears, and so does your investment capital.

The vast majority of investors either retained or added to their holdings of silver and gold after prices fell sharply in the spring, a survey suggests.

The gold price fell below $1,200 in June but staged a recovery in July, rising by 7.6pc 

When asked whether they had made any changes to their precious metal investments over the past year, 37pc of investors said they hadn’t changed their allocations to silver and gold, while 43pc had increased their holdings.

Just 14pc of investors said they had reduced their holdings, while 4pc had switched from gold to silver. Only one in 100 said they had sold all of their holdings of the precious metals while 0.7pc had moved from silver to gold.

The survey was conducted by BullionVault, which allows individual investors to own gold and silver without taking possession.

The strong support for the metals came despite the survey being conducted in June, just after a major sell-off that saw the price of gold tumble.

Having peaked in autumn 2011 at almost $1,900 an ounce, the price fluctuated between $1,600 and $1,800 for much of the next year, before beginning a sharp decline from October 2012. In June it fell below $1,200 but staged a recovery in July, rising by 7.6pc.

Separate research has found that the top seven best performing funds in July were all related to gold. Gold funds tend to own shares in gold mining companies, whose shares rose more sharply than the gold price, gaining 9.7pc over the month.

The best performing fund was the Way Charteris Gold Portfolio, which climbed by 24.9pc in July, according to Hargreaves Lansdown, the fund supermarket. Next was Smith & Williamson Global Gold & Resources, which gained 19.5pc over the month, and Old Mutual's BlackRock Gold & General fund with a 19.3pc rise.

Adrian Lowcock of Hargreaves Lansdown said the rally was due to indications from America's Federal Reserve that the withdrawal from quantitative easing – so-called "tapering" – would be slower than previously thought.

“Investor confidence returned in July as the Fed confirmed that it would continue purchasing $85bn a month of bonds," he said. "The Fed gave a broad outline of how QE tapering will proceed, reassuring investors that tapering was dependent on continued economic growth.

"Investors responded positively to the comments and gold rallied strongly in July. Continued QE is considered good news for gold as it increases the likelihood of higher inflation at some time in the future."

He added: "Gold shares have fallen a lot further than the actual price of gold this year and in July they also rebounded quicker. Traditionally gold mining companies have been more volatile than the underlying asset as they are a 'geared' investment to the precious metal. They lagged behind as the gold price rose in previous years but have tracked the price more closely this year."

Top performing funds in July 2013

Miguel Perez-Santalla of BullionVault said: "For many private investors gold and silver is a long-term investment choice, and many precious metals investors are still feeling the sting of the last global economic downturn. They are clearly still very cautious about announcements and forecasts heralding signs of life in the economy that could tempt them away from precious metals.

"With this continued uncertainty and combined with the drop in price of precious metals, there is an opportunity to not just hold on to current investments but to also increase exposure further to protect savings and investments against any future shocks."

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Govt working on investment options to check gold buying: Raghuram Rajan

CHENNAI: In a bid to bring down import of gold, the government is working on more attractive investment options to dissuade people from buying the metal, a senior Finance Ministry official said today.

"We should create more attractive instruments which provide people an alternative source of investment than gold. And I think, we are working on those," said Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry Raghuram Rajan at a function here.

The government recently launched inflation indexed bonds with an aim to ensure better returns to inventors.

"As the economy starts doing better, more of these instruments will look more attractive. Equities look more attractive, fixed income will look more attractive as inflation comes down. That will take off some of the hunger for gold as an investment," Rajan added.

Both government and RBI have been taking steps to curtail import of gold, which is mainly responsible for India's high current account deficit (CAD).

Referring to controversy over the poverty line figures, Rajan said: "I think the point really is wherever you draw that line what is important is large number of people have (already) crossed. Won't you want more of our people to have the resources to do what they want..."

The Planning Commission's poverty line which says persons are not poor if their daily consumption of goods and services exceed Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 in villages, has generated a lot of controversy.

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