I think the gold price is going to have a hard time lowering...

I think the gold price is going to have a hard time lowering past the $1180 bottom it hit before for the following reasons. There is very active purchasing of physical gold at the moment which would only increase as the price lowers. There is also the inflationary effect of printing US dollars, which I dont think they will phase out until a sustained recovery occurs in the US. A sustained recovery (which i read as a recovery in the physical economy, not the stock market which has already happened) would be accompanied by wage growth and associated inflation, which of course will increase the demand for gold purchases (physical and ETFs).

Considering the low cost of production for goldies, and more so intiallly for WWI for the extraction of alluvial gold, a gold price keeping above 1180 should keep this a nicely profitable operation.

Sovereign risk is certainly an issue, but WWI seems to be doing well on the PR front. Still good PR is no guarantee of a secure future. Myself having direct experience in emerging economies, if WWI looks after the economic interests of local stakeholders without handing over the reins so to speak, they should have a rosy future where they are.

Now where is that announcement we are all waiting for? :)