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If gold isn't money, why did Vietnam just outlaw using it as such?
Restrictions on Bullion-Related Businesses
By P. Thao and P. Trung
Saigon Giai Phong (Liberation)
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Thursday, April 5, 2012
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Law/2012/4/100611/
As per a decree issued by the Prime Minister's office on April 3, gold has been banned as a medium for exchange, along with seven bullion-related activities that will take effect from May 25.
The decree prohibits use of gold as a medium of exchange; manufacturing gold jewellery without a licence from the central bank; trading gold without a licence; and conducting any other gold-related businesses without the approval of the prime minister and the central bank.
In addition, licensed gold enterprises must satisfy requirements such as having registered capital of 100 billion Vietnamese dong; having operated in gold trading for two years; paying tax above VND500 million; and having at least a branch in three central provinces and cities.
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Prophecy Platinum (TSXV: NKL) and Ursa Major Minerals
Sign Combination Agreement
Company Press Release
Friday, March 2, 2012
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada -- Prophecy Platinum Corp. (TSX-V: NKL, OTC-QX: PNIKF, Frankfurt: P94P) and Ursa Major Minerals Inc. have signed a binding letter of agreement for a business combination through a proposed all-share transaction. In doing so Prophecy and Ursa have acted at arm's length and the transaction has been negotiated at arm's length.
Prophecy will issue one common share in exchange for every 25 outstanding common shares of Ursa. Ursa options and warrants will be exchanged for options and warrants of Prophecy on an agreed schedule.
Prophecy's offer represents a value of about $0.15 per each common share of Ursa based on Prophecy's share price of $3.70 as at March 1, representing a premium of 130 percent to Ursa's March 1 closing price of $0.065.
Prophecy is to subscribe for $1 million common shares of Ursa by way of private placement financing at $0.06 per share, subject to regulatory approval. Upon placement completion, John Lee and Greg Hall, current Prophecy directors, will be appointed to Ursa's board.
Prophecy thus will become a mid-tier resource company with a robust and diversified pipeline of platinum nickel projects, including:
-- The fully permitted open-pit Shakespeare PGM-Ni-Cu mine close to Sudbury, Ontario, infrastructure with near-term production capabilities.
-- The flagship Wellgreen (Yukon) PGM-Ni-Cu project with more than 10 million ounces of Pt-Pd-Au inferred resource. Drilling is under way and a preliminary economic assessment study is pending.
-- Manitoba's Lynn Lake Ni-Cu project with more than 262 million pounds Ni and 138 million pounds Cu measured and indicated.
For the complete announcement, please visit Prophecy Platinum's Internet site here:
http://www.prophecyplat.com/news_2012_mar02_prophecy_platinum_ursa_major...
As per the decree, licensed banks and credit institutions must have a registered capital of over VND3 trillion and branches in five provinces and cities.
Moreover, gold producers must be registered under the country's law to make gold and have good working facilities.
Furthermore, the State Bank of Vietnam ordered five banks including Asia Commercial Bank, Dong A Bank, Vietnam Export Import Bank, Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint-stock Bank, and Saigon Jewellery Co. to send detailed reports of their network for selling and buying bullion in the country, along with names and address of branches.
For setting up a network in the country and for meeting the demands of domestic gold consumers, five banks and jewellery companies have been asked to expand operations in every district in the country.
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Sona Discovers Potential High-Grade Gold Mineralization
at Blackdome in British Columbia -- 13.6g over 1.5 Meters
From a Company Press Release
November 22, 2011
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- With its latest surface diamond drilling program at its 100-percent-owned, formerly producing Blackdome gold mine in southern British Columbia, Sona Resources Corp. has discovered a potentially high-grade gold-mineralized area, with one hole intersecting 13.6 grams of gold in 1.5 meters of core drilling.
"We intersected a promising new mineralized zone, and we feel optimistic about the assay results," says Sona's president and CEO, John P. Thompson. "We have undertaken an aggressive exploration program that has tested a number of target zones. Our discovery of this new gold-bearing structure is significant, and it represents a positive development for the company."
Sona aims to bring its permitted Blackdome mill back into production over the next year and a half, at a rate of 200 tonnes per day, with feed from the formerly producing Blackdome mine and the nearby Elizabeth gold deposit property. A positive preliminary economic assessment by Micon International Ltd., based on a gold price of $950 per ounce over eight years, has estimated a cash cost of $208 per tonne milled, or $686 per gold ounce recovered.
For the company's complete press release, please visit:
http://www.sonaresources.com/_resources/news/SONA_NR18_2011-opt.pdf
