Exhaustible supply meets seemingly insatiable demand.
There is a sea change underway in the global monetary regime that has been in place since the 1971, and the unilateral abandonment of the gold standard by Richard Nixon. This current evolution is a major historic event, and as such, happens slowly for a very long time, and then all of a sudden, catching most by surprise.
The 'gold float' is the available physical supply at anywhere near current prices held primarily in the US and the UK for export to Asian Demand.
When the 'float' is exhausted higher prices, likely much higher, will be required to free up existing inventory held by strong hands and official sources.
History suggests that when the physical supply float collapses, and that information becomes known generally by markets, the gold pricing pool will also collapse, and suddenly so, because of the pyramid of leverage that is being shakily maintained.
The pool, the great gold pricing manipulation game, will continue until it can no longer be sustained.
Gold is being treated and traded as if it is just another currency, and is managed for all the reasons that currency prices are managed in a fiat monetary regime managed by central banks.
Unfortunately for them they can only 'create' gold through leverage and non-transparency.
