Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report (8/26/11)
Chen Lin stumbled into investing. While working on a doctorate at Princeton, he turned $5,411 in his wife's retirement account into $1.5 million. In his newsletter, What is Chen Buying? What is Chen Selling?, Lin shares the fruits of his analytical aptitude. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Lin reveals his latest finds in undervalued gold miners, and why he has high hopes for silver, too. Companies Mentioned: Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. - Franco-Nevada Corp. - Helio Resource Corp. - Majescor Resources Inc. - Mercer International Inc. - Pretium Resources Inc. - Prophecy Platinum Corp. - Prophecy Resource Corp. - Romios Gold Resources Inc. - Teck Resources Ltd. - Yamana Gold Inc.
The Gold Report: With gold trading around $1,800+/ounce (oz.), famous precious metals investor Eric Sprott announced that he is selling 2 million units, or $30 million (M), of the Sprott Physical Gold Trust. Sprott then said he would take that cash and put it into silver, which he called "the investment of the next decade." What do you think of his long-term silver strategy?
Chen Lin: Silver and gold are both precious metals, but they move at different times. Right now, the gold:silver ratio is a little bit over 40. Obviously, Sprott is more bullish on silver versus gold. I take a pretty even point of view. I like gold. I like silver. I know that historically the gold:silver ratio is much lower than it is right now. I checked Chinese history and it's about 10:1. Even China has much less gold than the rest of the world and is richer in silver. We could have a much lower ratio, which means silver would outperform gold going forward, but personally I'm betting evenly on gold and silver.
TGR: Another interesting development is that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced that he will nationalize all of the remaining non-state-owned gold mining operations in the country. Is this announcement likely to affect the share prices of small-cap companies operating in other countries with leftist leaders, like Bolivia or Peru?
CL: I think it's possible. What Chavez is doing will probably destroy the country's gold mining industry because it needs the juniors to lay the groundwork so the majors can dig out the gold. If Chavez nationalizes, it will probably lower the gold production. I think one day he will regret that. It will increase concerns about the political risk in countries that have those close ties to Chavez.
TGR: Recently, we saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average drop a little over 400 points in a day. What's your outlook for gold? Are we going to see $2,000/oz. gold before the end of 2011?
