Ahh righto, in your linked post you've come up with your figures by removing the value of the crossholdings. "Gold on hand is worth more than the market cap without the crossholdings" is a
very different statement than "Gold on hand is worth more than the market cap". You can understand why I was confused!
FYI, your calculation in the linked post is actually mathematically incorrect - we can't just subtract a percentage off each company, as we'd be double-counting part of the cross-holding. If (by your linked post) we assume the two current total market caps are valid, then the two "pure" values for the companies (without the crossholdings) are $247.4m and $34.1m (using the simultaneous equations method above), for a combined $247.4m + $34.1m = $281.6m.
$281.6m is indeed less than the value of ~203k ounces of gold (~$317.7m), so we do actually agree than "Gold on hand is worth more than the market cap without the crossholdings"! We got there in the end
Moving on, I'm interested in how you arrived at the ~203k of consolidated gold holdings as at mid-December - I also arrive at roughly the same number, by producing at ~100,000 oz/p.a. into the consolidated Mint account, and then selling 75-80% of it to cover costs. Is that how you got there too?
