Documentary, National Geographic: The Quest for Gold
#NationalGeographic #Documentary #QuestforGold #Gold
#NationalGeographic #Documentary #QuestforGold #Gold
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00:00:03we lost for gold I always loved gold I love the color I love the touch I love
00:00:10the feel our quest for gold is insatiable gold has spread mayhem
00:00:17unhappiness in many parts of the world people have killed for it nations have
00:00:24fallen over gold humanity's desire for gold is an act of supreme insanity gold
00:00:32the metal that seduced the world
00:00:48billions of years ago meteors bombarded the planet carrying gold from outer
00:01:01space
00:01:08what they left behind lay buried until man came along and our love affair with the
00:01:19gold glittering metal began
00:01:28the 49ers of the great gold rush 165 years ago don't care where gold comes from
00:01:38they're chasing the american dream gold can make them rich
00:01:46what they don't know is that under their feet lies a sea of gold richer than their wildest dreams
00:01:55they just can't see it
00:02:01gone are the panhandlers
00:02:05you can't mine it you can't process it until you find it so the first step you've got to figure
00:02:12out where it is
00:02:13we've hit all the rocks that are at surface we've looked at all these we've drilled them now we have
00:02:18to start looking deeper we have to look beyond the obvious
00:02:22today the prospector's mule is a helicopter
00:02:28the quest is the same
00:02:31is there gold there
00:02:32it's good to see you again
00:02:34the answer is always yes
00:02:36the question is how much gold is there
00:02:38anybody who picks up a rock has found gold
00:02:40but it might be a few molecules and you're not going to get much money for a few molecules
00:02:44northeastern nevada still holds the biggest gold bearing deposit in america
00:02:49do you have the maps of the area i do yeah
00:02:52jared townsend of barrett gold has figured out where to look
00:02:55and his fellow geophysicist jeff plastow of geotech goes prospecting
00:03:05okay
00:03:07navigation the sharp eye needed to spot gold bearing rock is now
00:03:11a gigantic electromagnetic system
00:03:14all right
00:03:15we're good to go back here
00:03:16a giant metal detector in the sky
00:03:19it sends out a signal that can detect magnetized sand
00:03:23and its related structures thousands of feet below the surface
00:03:27that sand is sometimes where gold can be found
00:03:33it's costly and time consuming
00:03:36but aerial exploration can narrow the search
00:03:41like the 49ers
00:03:43there's no guarantee
00:03:51back on the ground jeff analyzes today's material
00:03:55we're beginning to map it down to depth
00:03:58okay that might be down towards more of our target depth
00:04:01it gives us a real
00:04:03feel for the area where we potentially have our gold deposit
00:04:06thanks for coming by
00:04:06the chances of actually finding a really big mine are very low
00:04:11so there's a big financial risk
00:04:12for every thousand prospects
00:04:14less than one will actually turn into a mine
00:04:18we're always looking for another deposit
00:04:21we never stop
00:04:24that's what we get up every day and come to work for
00:04:26is to make another discovery
00:04:31once they identify a spot the test drills get to work
00:04:40these machines can cut a mile deep through hard rock
00:04:45twenty five years ago if i'd come in with a proposal to drill a three thousand foot hole
00:04:49in the middle of a gravel covered valley
00:04:51i would have been laughed out of the office
00:04:53they would have thought i was nuts
00:04:55what we're doing is trying to put together our own treasure map
00:04:58our treasure map is looking in three dimensions now
00:05:01and finding deeper than anybody's ever looked before
00:05:05what is it about gold that makes us go to such great lengths to find it
00:05:11it's a symbol of wealth
00:05:12it's a symbol of status
00:05:14it's a symbol of importance
00:05:15he who has the gold makes the rule
00:05:22in 1375 spanish map makers are charting the known world
00:05:26on a map of north africa
00:05:28they draw a picture of a man who has status
00:05:33more gold than anyone else
00:05:35and he makes all the rules
00:05:39the text says
00:05:40so abundant is the gold which is found in his country
00:05:44that he is the richest and most noble king in the land
00:05:51his name
00:05:54is Mansa Musa
00:06:06in 1312
00:06:08when he takes power
00:06:09he inherits a string of titles
00:06:13king of kings
00:06:17lion of molly
00:06:22and perhaps
00:06:23most important of all
00:06:25lord of the mines
00:06:31a survey put Mansa Musa as the world's richest man of all time
00:06:35they estimated his fortune at some 400 billion dollars
00:06:39for comparison bill gates came 12th on the list
00:06:42with something close to a quarter of Mansa Musa's wealth
00:06:46Mansa Musa is one of the most incredible characters in history
00:06:50and few of us have ever heard of him
00:06:52and few of us have ever heard of him
00:06:54Musa rules an immense African empire
00:06:58the empire of Mali had the largest resources of gold known in the world at that time
00:07:05all gold in the kingdom belonged to Mansa Musa
00:07:10it was all his to do with as he pleased
00:07:13thousands of his subjects toil away in his gold mines
00:07:25the power that Mansa Musa had
00:07:28is hard to imagine in the modern era
00:07:31he had the power of life and death over everybody in his empire
00:07:37in the early years of his reign
00:07:39rebels and marauding bandits threaten his vast wealth
00:07:45to protect it
00:07:47he rules by the sword
00:08:01no
00:08:04no
00:08:05no
00:08:06no
00:08:17you don't get to run an empire by being all touchy-feely
00:08:21there was not much room for mischief in the empire of Mali under Mansa Musa
00:08:28despite his brutality
00:08:30Musa is a religious man
00:08:32and he's preparing for the trip of his life
00:08:40every Muslim who can
00:08:42has a sacred duty to make a pilgrimage to Mecca
00:08:49but there's more to this pilgrimage
00:08:51than meets the eye
00:08:56Spain
00:08:57Spain
00:08:57the early 1980s
00:09:02businessman Mark Nathanson sits in a library
00:09:05he's obsessed with the story of Mansa Musa's gold mines
00:09:10Nathanson is a treasure hunter
00:09:13bitten by the gold bug
00:09:16by chance
00:09:18by chance
00:09:19he finds a 300 year old map of Musa's empire
00:09:24and a name
00:09:26Ophir
00:09:26a fabled lost city of gold
00:09:30he's convinced Mansa Musa and Ophir are connected
00:09:35and he thought
00:09:37where are the gold mines
00:09:38what happened to them
00:09:39in novels
00:09:41how many quests for gold
00:09:43start that way
00:09:44somebody finds a map
00:09:46the treasure map
00:09:48and they're off
00:09:51Nathanson heads to Mali
00:09:54the lure of the treasure map is irresistible
00:10:05in 1324
00:10:07Mansa Musa sets off on his own quest
00:10:12a 4500 mile pilgrimage to Mecca
00:10:15I'm pretty sure that the journey wasn't just made for spiritual gratification
00:10:21he wanted to go out into the world
00:10:24and show the strength that this African Saharan emperor had
00:10:29nothing says strength like a conspicuous display of wealth
00:10:3480 camels each carry up to 300 pounds of gold
00:10:39slaves carry another 24 tons
00:10:44Mansa Musa leads the procession on a black stallion
00:10:48adorned in what else?
00:10:51gold
00:10:59soldiers
00:11:00servants
00:11:01slaves
00:11:0372,000 in all
00:11:08it's a long journey
00:11:10in blistering heat
00:11:12across the treacherous sands of the Sahara
00:11:16temperatures hit 120 Fahrenheit in the summer
00:11:19and drop below freezing in the winter
00:11:26the Sahara is massive
00:11:28if we were to take the contiguous 48 United States of America
00:11:33you could drop it into the Sahara
00:11:34and there'd still be room around the edges
00:11:42many perish in the sandstorms
00:11:47the sands of time buried the gold mines of the richest man on earth
00:11:52tracking them down centuries later
00:11:55is a long shot at best
00:12:01Nathanson spends all his spare time
00:12:03knocking around the arid country of Western Mali
00:12:07looking year after year
00:12:08even if treasure hunter Mark Nathanson finds the ancient mines
00:12:13there's no guarantee there's any gold left
00:12:17outside the tiny village of Satiola
00:12:20something catches Nathanson's eye
00:12:30has he finally found one of the legendary gold mines that centuries earlier made Mansa Musa the richest man of
00:12:39all time
00:12:45laden with more than a billion dollars worth of gold
00:12:48Musa's caravan spends its way across the Sahara
00:12:55at every stop his soldiers hand out gold dust to the sick and the poor
00:13:04he buys his way into the hearts of the people
00:13:08his quest for glory and a place in history
00:13:16every Friday to mark the Muslim holy day
00:13:20Mansa Musa leaves enough gold to finance the construction of a new mosque
00:13:25some still stand today
00:13:28he's displaying his power and his own magnificence by building all of these things
00:13:36after nine months the caravan to Mecca reaches its first big stop
00:13:41the gates of Cairo a financial center of the known world
00:13:47by now Mansa Musa has spread his wealth across North Africa
00:13:54and he's far from done
00:13:58Cairo has never seen anything like it
00:14:04if you got it flaunted
00:14:06he wanted to show it off
00:14:10like the guy who walks into a bar and buys everybody a drink
00:14:15Mansa Musa would be the guy who'd walk into the bar and buy the bar
00:14:18and then buy everyone a drink
00:14:27Mansa Musa spends three months shopping in the world famous markets of Cairo
00:14:37he leaves behind tons of gold
00:14:48by the time he rides out of town
00:14:51Mansa Musa has changed the world
00:14:54Mansa Musa spent so much in gold
00:14:58that it lost a quarter of its value
00:15:00it's the only time in history that an individual's spending of gold
00:15:04has devalued the currency for a region for over a decade
00:15:12after years of criss-crossing West Africa obsessed with finding lost gold mines
00:15:19businessman Mark Nathanson may finally have hit gold
00:15:27outside the village of Sadiola his translator asks a village elder about the tunnel in the hill
00:15:36he tells them it was once a gold mine
00:15:40but now it's abandoned
00:15:45his ancestors worked it for centuries
00:16:00until a massive collapse killed every man inside
00:16:04until a massive collapse killed every man inside
00:16:14he says
00:16:26the world
00:16:26come back
00:16:27an ancient mine
00:16:29untouched for a century
00:16:30he said many people lost their lives
00:16:34Nathanson says nothing.
00:16:41Secrecy is everything in the quest for gold.
00:16:52Treasure hunter Mark Nathanson has discovered what he thinks is one of Mansa Musa's gold mines.
00:16:58He needs exploration rights for the area without tipping off his competitors.
00:17:04So Nathanson staked a huge area of ground.
00:17:08It was being very, very cagey.
00:17:10He deliberately did that to disguise his intentions.
00:17:13To explore this massive plot of land, he needs investors.
00:17:18While there could be a huge reward, the chances of fabulous wealth are small.
00:17:23Most people in the exploration game lose their shirts.
00:17:27But Nathanson is a persuasive man.
00:17:30He's selling a golden dream.
00:17:32You're buying that quest.
00:17:36And if they hit it, it's gonna be worth a huge amount.
00:17:41It takes years of secrecy and struggle before they can drill.
00:17:44When they do, they hit pay dirt right away.
00:17:50Gold like they never imagined.
00:17:54Nathanson discovers a legendary gold field that nearly 700 years earlier helped make Mansa Musa the richest man in the
00:18:04world.
00:18:06Today, the Satiola mine produces 400,000 ounces of gold a year.
00:18:13$480 million worth.
00:18:15Making Mark Nathanson a very wealthy man.
00:18:19A guy like that, he deserves to find a gold mine.
00:18:22Good for him.
00:18:23And it starts with a treasure map.
00:18:25It hearkened back to this fabulous rich empire.
00:18:29And we find their gold again.
00:18:31Mansa Musa may have been the richest gold magnet of all time.
00:18:35But it's another king, born over 2,000 years earlier, who is the original bling king.
00:18:43Tutankhamun of Egypt.
00:18:45The ancient Egyptians are so in love with gold, even in death, they couldn't part with it.
00:18:51They would put them in their tombs, hoping that in the afterlife they would have all of these treasures with
00:18:57them and to go and become gods.
00:19:03British Egyptologist Howard Carter has been digging around Egypt looking for a missing pharaoh whose tomb he believes contains fabulous
00:19:13golden treasure.
00:19:14In 1922, his wealthy backer, Lord Carnarvon, summons Carter to England.
00:19:20After five years with no results, Carnarvon is tired of pouring money into the dig.
00:19:30He's calling off the search.
00:19:33Carter begs for one more chance.
00:19:46Carnarvon reluctantly agrees.
00:19:53November 4th, 1922, three days after they start work.
00:19:58Carter finds steps, steps leading down to an ancient doorway.
00:20:06Could this be a secret chamber?
00:20:08Perhaps a burial chamber?
00:20:14Carter sends a telegram to Lord Carnarvon.
00:20:17At last, have made wonderful discovery in Valley, a magnificent tomb with seals intact.
00:20:25Congratulations, Carter.
00:20:3020 days later, Lord Carnarvon arrives, and the two make their way to the sealed doorway.
00:20:43Carter breaks a small hole in the top corner.
00:20:48At first, he sees only darkness.
00:20:53As his eyes adjust to the light, shapes of statues and animals emerge.
00:20:58Everywhere, the glint of gold.
00:21:02Carnarvon asks Carter, can you see anything?
00:21:05Yes.
00:21:06Wonderful things.
00:21:13Howard Carter discovers the most famous treasure trove of modern times.
00:21:18The big prize.
00:21:21Tutankhamun's coffin.
00:21:23Just over six feet long, made of solid gold, and weighing 240 pounds.
00:21:29The gold alone is worth almost $5 million today.
00:21:34The coffin itself?
00:21:36Priceless.
00:21:38King Tut's mask.
00:21:40Over 22 pounds of solid gold.
00:21:43The discovery fuels a worldwide fascination with Egypt.
00:21:48When the collection tours the United States 50 years later, more than 8 million visitors marvel at the boy king's
00:21:55riches.
00:21:57Gold is commonly associated with funeral practices because gold doesn't change with time.
00:22:03Gold is eternal.
00:22:07To satisfy our hunger for gold, we move mountains.
00:22:20We mine more of the precious metal than the ancients could ever imagine.
00:22:26Gold Strike in Northeastern Nevada is the second largest gold mine in the U.S.
00:22:31It's part of Barrick Gold, the largest gold mining company in the world.
00:22:36Gold Strike consists of two mines, one underground and a large open pit.
00:22:41Over half a mile across and 1,500 feet down.
00:22:47Deeper than the Empire State Building is high.
00:22:52All of the gold in the gold in the gold strike pit is microscopic.
00:22:57When you travel down into the pit, it just looks like black rock.
00:23:01But there's never any visible gold.
00:23:03It's all microscopic.
00:23:05And the way we find that gold is through blast hole drilling.
00:23:16Every day is a blast for Sid Owen and his crew.
00:23:20A blast of 700,000 tons of gold-bearing limestone ore.
00:23:25432, Dan.
00:23:27We'll go for a shot time of about 2 o'clock this afternoon.
00:23:30How's that going to work for you guys?
00:23:32Yeah, 10 more.
00:23:35When we're preparing to blast, we drill big holes in the rock.
00:23:38We put explosives in the hole.
00:23:40And that explosive is ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel.
00:23:44Every month we use between 1.5 million and 2 million pounds of ammonium nitrate.
00:23:51431 dollar units.
00:23:53We'll fire the shot on the 48, 40, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
00:24:08700,000 tons of pulverized rock.
00:24:13Each ton of ore might only produce a tenth of an ounce of gold.
00:24:19It takes a whole lot of rock to make one bar of gold.
00:24:23Millions of tons of rock to get one bar of gold.
00:24:26They're mining things down to one part per million.
00:24:30If you were in a car in a traffic jam that stretched from Cleveland to San Francisco,
00:24:35the length of that one car is one part in a million.
00:24:39All the gold ever found would fill up less than one-third of the Washington Monument.
00:24:45The world produces that much steel every five weeks.
00:24:49It takes billions of dollars to mine that ore.
00:24:54Our hunger for gold makes it worth the effort.
00:24:59Today, with the price of gold around $1,200 an ounce, miners spare no expense.
00:25:06This shovel is the largest of its kind in the world.
00:25:10And at more than $20 million, it's also the most expensive.
00:25:15The haul trucks can hold 300 tons of blasted ore.
00:25:21The shovel can load one with three scoops.
00:25:24A truck can back in empty and leave with a full load in one minute.
00:25:38A conveyor belt dumps the ore into a massive revolving drum.
00:25:46Inside, steel balls smash it to a fine powder.
00:25:54Pumps move that powder into a series of tanks.
00:25:58Cyanide frees the tiny specks of gold from the pulverized rock.
00:26:05Enough gold has been mined here to make its founder, Canadian Peter Monk, a very rich man.
00:26:12Peter Monk set out to create a great gold mining company.
00:26:15And he succeeded in creating the greatest gold mining company.
00:26:20It almost never happened.
00:26:22He's 16 years old when the Nazis sweep into Budapest.
00:26:27How did they escape the greatest killing machine in history?
00:26:40Sometimes, the quest for gold can be a quest for life itself.
00:26:47In 1944, the German army marches into Budapest and begins rounding up Hungarian Jews.
00:26:57Peter Monk is just 16 years old.
00:27:02The Monk family faces death in a concentration camp.
00:27:05But inside this briefcase could be a ticket out.
00:27:19The Monk's are a wealthy banking family.
00:27:22The briefcase has been filled with gold.
00:27:30The family hopes it's enough to buy their way to freedom.
00:27:37A secret escape route via a train to Switzerland.
00:27:50Their fate rests in the hands of a Nazi official in charge of the deportations.
00:28:09He will decide if the Monk family can get on the train to freedom.
00:28:14Whether they live or die.
00:28:17Remember that one might be interested in the way to Kopf profitable.
00:28:17Or he had this time since then, won't dig orvert those that he would die.就寝
00:28:29to him whenever he hascolour slapped his mission anyway. We know that
00:28:37he had planned a secret. Because his son
00:28:38attended himself alreadyY. And as he
00:28:39saw God's death, he watched die with me. Bearie says
00:28:40the Heronưỡis benign Killingh HD곤 since they worked for gabiner. But her family
00:28:45forgot about this clothes. He didn't
00:28:45like them to purpose. He's been
00:28:57The most notorious mass murderers in history allow Peter Monk and his family to live.
00:29:05But can Peter live with the fact that he has to leave his mother behind?
00:29:11His parents are divorced.
00:29:15She insists he go with his father.
00:29:21A few days later, the Nazis put his mother in a boxcar to Auschwitz.
00:29:28One of the most heartbreaking things in Monk's life was having to leave his mother behind as he fled to
00:29:36freedom.
00:29:36She survived the concentration camps where she ended up, and they were reunited after the war.
00:29:45The gold the Monk family pays for their escape disappears into a colossal Nazi slush fund.
00:30:02During World War II, it's estimated Nazi Germany steals as much as the modern equivalent of $5.5 billion worth
00:30:10of gold from foreign governments.
00:30:14It's what the victors did to the vanquish throughout human history.
00:30:18It just shows an extreme form of a fascination with gold, that we have to grab all the gold we
00:30:24can.
00:30:25The Nazis store their gold plunder in the Reich Bank in Berlin.
00:30:32In the dying days of the war, with Allied bombers pounding the city, the Nazis move it to a safer
00:30:38place.
00:30:41General Patton's advancing army receives a report that some of it is hidden in a salt mine in central Germany.
00:30:52In April 1945, Patton and Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower go down into the mine to see for themselves.
00:31:01Two of the highest-ranking men in the U.S. Army.
00:31:07A worn-out cable holds them from a 2,100-foot freefall to the bottom.
00:31:16They have no idea what awaits.
00:31:27There before them, an unbelievable sight.
00:31:31More than 4,000 sacks, all neatly catalogued and stuffed with gold bullion.
00:31:39100 tons of it.
00:31:41Evidence of the largest robbery in the history of the world.
00:31:47There's a vast quantity of personal items of gold, mainly stolen from Jews before they were sent off to their
00:31:54death.
00:31:56Man's greed knows no bounds.
00:32:00They took gold out of teeth of people that they murdered.
00:32:05They stole a lot of gold.
00:32:07They pretty much stole everything they could get their hands on.
00:32:12The gold is hauled up by U.S. Army engineers and shipped to a bank vault in Frankfurt.
00:32:20Perhaps some of it is the gold Peter Monk's family paid to buy their freedom.
00:32:27Peter Monk is the great phoenix character of the modern gold business.
00:32:32He's a financial genius with the ability to raise himself up from the ashes.
00:32:38He built a $14 million gold mining company into a $50 billion empire that is the biggest gold mining company
00:32:47in the world.
00:32:50When you can't mine gold from the surface of the earth, the quest takes you underground.
00:32:58Good to go?
00:32:59Yep.
00:33:00At Monk's Gold Strike Complex near Elko, Nevada, there's tons of gold that can't be reached by open pit mining.
00:33:09So the miners go underground.
00:33:15A much more expensive and dangerous venture.
00:33:22Miguel La Madrid, the head of underground operations, and his colleague Pat Chaconne make the four-minute commute to the
00:33:29bottom to inspect the tunnels.
00:33:31It's one-third of a mile down to a dark, alien world.
00:33:36A sprawling 50-mile network of tunnels.
00:33:45The natural temperature down here is 140 degrees.
00:33:51The mine has one of the largest air conditioning systems in the world.
00:33:57Go, guys!
00:34:00Accessing the gold here requires the same techniques as in the open pit.
00:34:07First, they blast.
00:34:13Now, how long do you think it's going to take us to back this heading?
00:34:15It'll be back in probably a half hour.
00:34:17Very good, man.
00:34:18Loaders scoop up the ore.
00:34:42The ore sifts through the grate to a chute below.
00:34:48A truck brings the ore to the surface, where it's hauled away to be processed.
00:35:01A hard shell of sulfide surrounds the gold.
00:35:04The ore and water are heated to 435 degrees in a large chamber.
00:35:09Pure oxygen is added to the mix, and under enormous pressure, the shell breaks down, freeing the gold.
00:35:19All the gold from the open pit and the underground mine ends up in the pour room.
00:35:24When we're pouring, we have to melt down that gold.
00:35:27So we have to get it around 2,000 degrees, which is extremely warm.
00:35:34You'll catch on fire if it hits you.
00:35:37That's why we wear our Kevlar uniform, so we don't injure anybody.
00:35:44There it is, liquid gold.
00:35:48We'll have a total of about 10,000 ounces all full when we're done.
00:35:53What's the purity look like so far?
00:35:55So far, it's been pretty good this month.
00:35:58We're running around 90% gold.
00:36:01At 90% pure gold, each bar weighs 56 pounds.
00:36:07To get that one bar, miners have to process up to 9,000 tons of ore.
00:36:14Each bar, about the size of a household brick, is worth nearly half a million dollars.
00:36:22Every year, about 900,000 ounces of gold leave this mine.
00:36:27That's pushing a billion dollars worth.
00:36:30The gold heads to a refinery that impurities.
00:36:37The refinery at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa, Canada, was the first to produce gold.
00:36:44Today, it is one of the most technically advanced and respected gold refineries in the world.
00:36:51Purity, after all, is security.
00:36:56You wouldn't buy a used car without knowing more about it.
00:36:59And so, any time you're going to actually trade physical gold, somebody's going to analyze it to make sure that
00:37:04it's what it should be.
00:37:06Gold with various levels of impurities arrives here from many different places.
00:37:13First, engineers melt a small sample and weigh it.
00:37:20This one weighs two ounces.
00:37:25They smelt again to burn off impurities.
00:37:32They weigh a second time.
00:37:35It's now 10% lighter.
00:37:38This is dore gold, 90% pure.
00:37:43Knowing this, they reproduce the process on a larger scale, removing impurities and creating pure 24-karat gold bars.
00:37:56The final stage, stamping each bar with the four nines, 99.99% pure gold.
00:38:07At today's prices, each 30-ounce bar is worth $36,000.
00:38:16Mining gold from the earth is one way of getting your hands on it.
00:38:21Stealing it is another.
00:38:24Our lives are governed by two emotions.
00:38:30Fear and greed.
00:38:41In 1532, Francisco Pizarro lands on the Pacific shores of the New World.
00:38:48Before him lies the vast Inca Empire.
00:38:51At the time, the largest nation on earth.
00:38:55He's on a mission.
00:38:58To rob the place.
00:39:00The king of Spain told Pizarro and the conquistadors, go and get me gold at any cost, get gold.
00:39:14Inca spies watch their every move.
00:39:17Inca, pay cuna.
00:39:18Inca, pay cuna.
00:39:21Inca, pay cuna.
00:39:23Cuna.
00:39:24Inca, pay cuna, amoy.
00:39:26Pay cuna, amoy.
00:39:27Pay cuna, amoy.
00:39:29When Pizarro's troop started to go inland, they knew they were going into the most powerful empire ever seen in
00:39:35the New World.
00:39:36They knew that they were getting themselves into the middle of something where they were going to have to depend
00:39:40on their military tactics to succeed.
00:39:53With the help of investors, he cobbles together a few ships, a small force of 62 horsemen and 106-foot
00:40:03soldiers.
00:40:23Pizarro and his tiny army head inland, intending to steal as much gold as his ships can carry.
00:40:36The Inca emperor, Atahualpa, is all-powerful.
00:40:42He's a god to his subjects.
00:40:46With thousands of soldiers at his command, Atahualpa is not the least bit worried about this small band of strangers.
00:40:53There are 168 of them.
00:40:56How could 168 boorish, rapacious men possibly contest the power of Atahualpa?
00:41:10Francisco Pizarro leads his army of 168 men deep into Inca territory with one simple objective, steal the gold.
00:41:19The Spaniards were incredibly greedy for gold.
00:41:25So greedy, they may have underestimated the task.
00:41:34The Inca emperor, Atahualpa, has been keeping tabs on the Spanish and has plans of his own.
00:41:40What Atahualpa was planning to do was to capture them, kill a bunch of the soldiers, castrate the rest, and
00:41:47then breed the horses.
00:41:50The Spaniards make it up into the high Andes and come out at the very place where the Inca Atahualpa
00:41:58was encamped with his army.
00:42:01Cayamarca, as it's now called.
00:42:03They come over this high pass, and there suddenly they see, in this valley below them, this enormous army.
00:42:1780,000 warriors, only 168 of them.
00:42:22The Spaniards said, we're in trouble.
00:42:24There is no way that they would be able to resist the power of that army that lay before them.
00:42:29Were they frightened?
00:42:31We know they were.
00:42:32This was beyond anything that they could conceivably have expected.
00:42:46Pizarro knows Atahualpa controls all the gold in the empire.
00:42:51If he can get his hands on the king, he will have a treasure beyond reckoning.
00:42:58Vastly outnumbered, Pizarro needs a cunning plan.
00:43:03He sends an envoy to meet with Atahualpa.
00:43:11Pizarro had an idea in mind.
00:43:14We're going to feign friendly relationships.
00:43:21A relationship of mutuality between the Spaniards and the Incas.
00:43:30The envoy carries out the first phase of Pizarro's plan.
00:43:38He tells the emperor the Spanish have come in the spirit of friendship.
00:43:42He offers Atahualpa a military alliance.
00:43:50Pizarro is an experienced explorer in the New World and has a translator to communicate with Atahualpa.
00:44:04Certain he has nothing to lose, he agrees to meet Pizarro the next day.
00:44:36Pizarro tells his men to prepare for battle.
00:44:38Pizarro tells his men to prepare for battle.
00:44:39To them, it's a suicide mission.
00:44:43The Spanish soldiers said, we were terrified.
00:44:49They were afraid that the next day they were all going to die.
00:44:58To make sure all his soldiers are behind him, Pizarro does what great leaders do.
00:45:07He stages a pep rally.
00:45:18Pizarro spent the entire night telling his men, we're going to be successful, we're going to have a great conquest
00:45:23tomorrow.
00:45:23Believe in me, trust in me, we will succeed.
00:45:51Atahualpa arrives in full regalia, seated on a golden throne.
00:46:05Pizarro sends a priest to present the emperor with a prayer book.
00:46:18The Inca have no concept of books.
00:46:22This offering means little to Atahualpa.
00:46:25The Inca have no word.
00:46:53Attackers!
00:46:56The cannons, the horses, other things the Incas have never seen before.
00:47:14And the 16th century weapon of mass destruction, Toledo steel.
00:47:21It cuts through just about anything.
00:47:24The Incas have little more than sticks and stones.
00:47:30Two hours later, 7,000 Inca warriors lie dead.
00:47:36The Spanish don't lose a single man.
00:47:50The once mighty king is now the prisoner of Francisco Pizarro.
00:48:02With the Inca god king as his hostage, Francisco Pizarro holds the key to the 130-year-old Inca Empire.
00:48:14They captured the ruler, and as long as they held that ruler, they were impervious to any sort of attack.
00:48:24Negotiations begin to set the king's ransom.
00:48:35His gold for his life.
00:48:44This comes as a big surprise to the king, for the Inca gold has no monetary value.
00:48:54The room where Atahualpa is held measures 17 by 22 feet.
00:49:01He agrees to fill it, literally, with gold.
00:49:16For the Incas, gold was an essential gift of the sun that would continue to be replenished so long as
00:49:22they did things right in their relationships with the sun.
00:49:25For the Spaniards, gold was wealth.
00:49:29In a single month, the Spaniards collect five tons of it.
00:49:34More than the annual output of all the gold in Europe at that time.
00:49:39In all, Pizarro collects 24 tons of gold and silver, almost a billion dollars worth at today's prices.
00:49:47The richest ransom in the history of the world.
00:49:51All the work of goldsmiths dating back a thousand years is now plunder.
00:49:58They were not interested in preservation of a cultural heritage.
00:50:03In fact, the whole cultural history was lost.
00:50:06They just wanted the gold.
00:50:11We have very, very few examples of Inca metal work, gold work, today.
00:50:19So that just goes to show what they were there for, totally money, and what they destroyed.
00:50:26A culture that didn't even have money.
00:50:29A brutal, brutal story.
00:50:36Pizarro keeps a few choice pieces to dazzle the Spanish court and distribute as gifts.
00:50:55For months, Pizarro has nine forges cooking round the clock.
00:51:03They melt down about 600 pounds of gold every day.
00:51:11The newly smelted ingots are stamped with the Spanish royal mark.
00:51:15The final act in the transformation of a culture into cash.
00:51:23The king of Spain is entitled to one-fifth of everything.
00:51:28Pizarro's cut would be worth more than $12 million today.
00:51:35Pizarro!
00:51:38Attawulpa more than fulfills his end of the bargain.
00:51:41Who are you?
00:51:42Pizarro has no intention of living up to his end of the deal.
00:51:48Pizarro!
00:51:48Pizarro!
00:51:52The Inca king is excess baggage.
00:51:55It's not that much!
00:52:00What America do you think in bless A?
00:52:10The last care...
00:52:23The kanéréals...
00:52:44Spain now controls most of the gold in the New World.
00:53:00Over the next few decades, a river of Inca gold flows back to Europe in Spanish treasure
00:53:06fleets.
00:53:06At the end of the 16th century, the great Spanish century of looting, the amount of gold available
00:53:15at the end of that century is five times the amount of gold at the beginning.
00:53:22This money flowed into Europe and transformed the economy of Europe.
00:53:34Pizarro never gets to see what happened to any of his plundered gold.
00:53:39He's murdered nine years later in Peru in a squabble with a business rival.
00:53:44He lived by the sword and he died by the sword.
00:53:46Because the gold didn't bring them anything like happiness, of that whole group, hardly
00:53:54any of them made it out alive.
00:53:57Francisco Pizarro was a simply ruthless character.
00:54:00He was just in charge of grand larceny.
00:54:05That was it.
00:54:12Gold has gone from culture to cash.
00:54:14So much gold flows into Spain.
00:54:19That Shakespeare writes of it being used as a form of torture.
00:54:25Melted and poured down the throats of those convicted of the most heinous crimes.
00:54:48Gold flowing from the New World into Spain helps to make it one of the most powerful countries
00:54:53in the world.
00:54:56Over the centuries, empires built on gold rise and fall.
00:55:00But our love for the precious metal never changes.
00:55:05Gold is special.
00:55:07And what makes it special is thousands of years of people wanting it.
00:55:11It probably is, in terms of symbols, the ultimate one there is.
00:55:18While many people love gold as an investment, most of the world's annual output is still doing
00:55:24what it does best.
00:55:28Making a statement.
00:55:32I have a lot of people that like to wear gold.
00:55:34It makes them feel good.
00:55:36Whether it's a pin or whether it's a ring or a watch, there's always been a great status
00:55:42to gold.
00:55:43I mean, you look at my watch, it's gold.
00:55:46I want gold.
00:55:47I could have it silver, but I choose gold.
00:55:55All the celebrities now, everybody is gold crazy.
00:55:59Everyone is buying a lot of gold chains.
00:56:01Everyone is buying a lot of gold bracelets.
00:56:04Everything is with gold.
00:56:06A lot of the hip-hop culture guys, they are successful and they want to let people know.
00:56:11When you get money, you want to exude your success.
00:56:17When you smile with your natural teeth, it's not as shiny.
00:56:20Some people want to show that their smile is a million dollar smile.
00:56:28Designs may have changed, but the statement is the same.
00:56:32I've made it.
00:56:36Geoffrey Munn runs one of London's most prestigious antique jewelry shops.
00:56:43I quite like this necklace as well.
00:56:46It's early 19th century and it's made of all kinds of stunning gemstones.
00:56:52There are pink topazes like rose water here and aquamarines, the color of the sea, and a rather strident peridot
00:56:59there, rubies, opals.
00:57:02It's a bouquet of gemstones, really, held in gold.
00:57:08A lot of people who own gold own it vicariously.
00:57:11They never see it.
00:57:12They own it like stocks and shares.
00:57:14But when it's conjoined with design and with superb craftsmanship in gold objects and in gold jewelry,
00:57:23then you're confronted with something that's not just a work of art, that its value is incalculable.
00:57:29Here we see a cigarette case by Carl Faberge, goldsmith to the imperial court of Russia.
00:57:35And it's decorated with aubergine enamel and little ties of diamonds in platinum.
00:57:44But the gold shines through.
00:57:45And the idea is that you'd offer your friends a cigarette from here and they take it.
00:57:51Your imperial majesty, will you have a cigarette? Yes, please.
00:57:54And then you close this and then open, find the matches in the lid, strike them on here.
00:57:59And while they were still alight, pull up the tinder and get this to glow.
00:58:06Anton Kata is on a quest to make beautiful gold jewelry.
00:58:12The Goldsmith Centre in London is the hub for anyone working with precious metals.
00:58:19Hey Anton.
00:58:21Today in his workshop, his apprentice Jen hones her skill on the most essential piece of them all.
00:58:27What we're doing is we're trying to make a formal wedding band, half a D-shaped wedding band.
00:58:32This is so hard.
00:58:33On the job training is the only way to learn the trays.
00:58:37So you're going to melt that all together in a crystal ball.
00:58:41First to soften it so it's workable.
00:58:44Jen heats the gold to about 2000 degrees.
00:58:48Then pours it into a mold.
00:58:53Jen uses essentially the same techniques as goldsmiths throughout history.
00:58:59The trick here is to work the gold while it's still warm.
00:59:03It's not that easy.
00:59:05Making a gold ring follows a very strict formula.
00:59:09You get your steps right and you follow them through, then it just flows and it can go quickly.
00:59:15But as soon as you struggle with a step, then you have to move back again.
00:59:19An apprentice's lot in life.
00:59:24Try, try, and try again.
00:59:36All right, great. That's it.
00:59:38Yes.
00:59:39So I stressed out?
00:59:40Yes.
00:59:41Yeah, you stressed out. You stressed this gold out.
00:59:43Now you just have to relax it again.
00:59:45Perfect.
00:59:45Now Jen can move forward.
00:59:48I am going to cut this through.
00:59:55Bring the two ends together.
00:59:59Check the rough size.
01:00:03Solder the ring together.
01:00:08Great.
01:00:12Well, that's almost there.
01:00:14Yep.
01:00:15Right, let me do the last little step of getting the round.
01:00:18Nothing that's shaved goes to waste.
01:00:22It's remelted and used in another piece.
01:00:26A perfect gold band.
01:00:29The symbol of eternal love.
01:00:32Perfect.
01:00:36The next step is the assay.
01:00:40A test to confirm the quality of the gold.
01:00:44If it's up to scratch, Anton will be able to get a hallmark.
01:00:49A hallmark guarantees customers they're getting the quality of the gold they paid for.
01:00:54A centuries-old form of consumer protection.
01:00:59In London, the place for that is Goldsmiths Hall.
01:01:07I'd just like to give that in for special service.
01:01:11For 700 years, Goldsmiths Hall has been putting its stamp of approval on gold jewelry.
01:01:17That's where the word hallmark comes from.
01:01:19The hall where they put on the mark.
01:01:22Every day, over 12,000 pieces of gold flow through here seeking that precious mark.
01:01:29For 43 years, Dave Mary has been making his mark here.
01:01:35Molded.
01:01:36It's about a traceability and about a provenance.
01:01:39In 200 years time, when you're obviously dead and gone, somebody can pick up a piece of your work.
01:01:45They know exactly who made it.
01:01:46They know exactly what the standard is.
01:01:48And that's the really fantastic thing about it.
01:01:50And hopefully, long may it rhyme.
01:01:54Dave teaches young assayers the craft.
01:01:58When they finish their apprenticeship, they will formally be known as Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.
01:02:05Anton's ring is put to the test.
01:02:08Technology thousands of years old is the way to tell if jewelry that glitters is really gold.
01:02:17Tradition lives on at London's Goldsmiths Hall.
01:02:20Goldsmith Anton Cata hopes a wedding ring he's made gets a hallmark.
01:02:25A consumer guarantee 700 years old.
01:02:29When an assayer scratches gold across a stone tablet, a touchstone, it leaves a distinctive yellow mark.
01:02:36That means it's up to scratch.
01:02:40The ancients used the same technology.
01:02:44Yep, looks okay.
01:02:46I'm sorry, that's a pass, wouldn't you?
01:02:47Yep.
01:02:48That's great. Yeah, that's fantastic.
01:02:50Yep, 18 calories.
01:02:51I'll take that. Thank you.
01:02:55The ring gets its hallmark.
01:02:59Excellent.
01:03:05All right?
01:03:07Yeah, that's fine. That's great.
01:03:09Thanks. Anton will be pleased with that.
01:03:11Good. Thank you.
01:03:12Gold has been recycled so many times that any piece of gold you buy technically could have started off life
01:03:18with the Minoans or the Incas or the ancient Egyptians.
01:03:23Gold is probably the most oldest form of recycling that there is known to man because of that same products
01:03:29that turn round and round and round.
01:03:31Not every piece gets a hallmark.
01:03:34Two of the rings are coming up below.
01:03:37All right, okay. Oh, yeah. Let's see what you mean.
01:03:39The surface of this ring appears to be gold.
01:03:42To find out if it's pure gold, the assayer applies a chemical similar to the original acid test.
01:03:50If you use the silver sulfate on there as well, the base metal ones should go black and the gold
01:03:56ones will remain the same.
01:03:58A tiny mark from the ring turns black.
01:04:01It's not pure gold.
01:04:04However, the touchstone method can't tell an assayer what that metal is.
01:04:11They need an x-ray.
01:04:15Craftsmen love the process because obviously it gives kudos to their work as such.
01:04:19It guarantees that when they're selling something on to the consumer, the consumer's got a certain amount of trust in
01:04:25place.
01:04:26This technology costs a lot more than the $200 touchstone, but it's worth it to guarantee that trust.
01:04:35One piece of copper. Packet now.
01:04:39Phone the customer and inform them that there's his base metal ring in amongst his nine-carat rings.
01:04:44Thank you. Fantastic.
01:04:46No hallmark for this piece.
01:04:48And sometimes failure is a very sad story.
01:04:52I've had guys here standing at our counter crying their eyes out because they've invested their entire life savings on
01:04:58pieces of jewelry they thought were pretty good, but they're actually not at all.
01:05:04Real gold offers unique security in troubled times and some will take advantage of that.
01:05:11When something goes wrong somewhere in the world, people flock to gold because gold is something you can hold in
01:05:17your hand and will retain value because people prize it for its beauty, its transcendence.
01:05:25People want gold and people have done crazy things in order to get it.
01:05:34Spring, 1864. After three years of bloodshed, war-weary Americans pray the Civil War will end soon.
01:05:43Read all about it.
01:05:45Then, two New York newspapers report that President Lincoln has drafted an additional 400,000 men.
01:05:54The news means the war is far from over.
01:05:59Share prices drop as investors rush to the old safe haven.
01:06:03Gold.
01:06:05The price quickly rises.
01:06:08To a lot of people gold is a religion.
01:06:10It's not so much a commodity as an article of faith that it's the only real money.
01:06:22The man behind the story is newspaper editor Joseph Howard Jr.
01:06:29President Lincoln never issued an order to draft 400,000 men and demands an investigation to find out where the
01:06:37story came from.
01:06:51Days later, police show up at Howard's office.
01:06:58Turns out, Howard's heavily invested in gold.
01:07:02He sells it at a handsome profit, taking advantage of the gold craze his story causes.
01:07:09People can plant stories in the newspaper or post things on blogs to generate fluctuations in the market.
01:07:18People can profit off of that.
01:07:24Howard confesses, spends three months in jail, and is released in the summer of 1864.
01:07:32Joseph Howard's hoax and the resulting stampede to gold demonstrate our enduring belief that gold can see us through hard
01:07:41times.
01:07:4370 years later, the United States is facing hard times again.
01:07:47The Great Depression.
01:07:49By 1933, the economy in the U.S. has collapsed.
01:07:54President Franklin Roosevelt tries to calm the country.
01:07:57The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
01:08:04Roosevelt himself has reason to be afraid.
01:08:08He wants to print more money to combat the Depression.
01:08:12But he's limited by the amount of gold the government has.
01:08:16Roosevelt makes a bold decision.
01:08:18Something he knows will increase the U.S. Treasury's gold supply.
01:08:23A couple of days after he's inaugurated, he signs one of the most reviled documents among gold buyers and hoarders.
01:08:34The infamous 1933 Executive Order 6102 forces citizens to hand over their gold.
01:08:45In return, they would be compensated in dollars.
01:08:50So you can't own gold as a private citizen.
01:08:54You can have a ring. If it's in your teeth, they won't come and get it.
01:08:59But anything else, gold coins that you have in your safe deposit box, gold bars, you are not allowed to
01:09:06have those anymore.
01:09:07You must turn them in to the government.
01:09:11Anyone who doesn't is labeled a hoarder, faces a $10,000 fine, and up to 10 years in prison.
01:09:17Here we are in the land of the free and the home of the brave, but look what the government
01:09:21can do.
01:09:21It can order you to bring in your gold.
01:09:23The people who didn't like it were sort of the very wealthy people.
01:09:27It's been called the Great Gold Robbery of 1933.
01:09:31People want gold for one very specific reason. Beyond wealth, security. It gives them great security.
01:09:43Over the next few years, the government takes in over $3 billion worth of gold.
01:09:49By law, this allows them to print $8 billion in cash, worth about $140 billion today.
01:09:58Tons of confiscated gold melted down into ingots.
01:10:03Now the government needs a place to stash all that gold.
01:10:10It chooses the U.S. Army post of Fort Knox near Louisville, Kentucky.
01:10:18The first shipments arrive in January 1937.
01:10:24Deep underground, the gold vault lies behind a massive bomb-proof door, nearly two feet thick and weighing 20 tons.
01:10:34Fort Knox becomes the world's most famous bullion depository.
01:10:40The fact that Fort Knox is this symbol of safe and secure is an indication of how valuable gold is.
01:10:49If you wanted to make a movie about the great crime of the century, it would be trying to get
01:10:53the gold out of Fort Knox.
01:10:55In 1971, someone was trying to get the gold out of Fort Knox.
01:11:00Not with a gun, but with the contents of this briefcase.
01:11:11When President Nixon comes to power in 1969, the United States is once again facing a financial crisis.
01:11:19A run on the gold that could empty the vaults of Fort Knox.
01:11:24The government needs gold to back its currency.
01:11:27In Washington, a dollar bill is literally worth one-thirty-fifth of an ounce of gold.
01:11:33There's too many dollars and not enough gold to cover them.
01:11:37President Nixon is in a bind.
01:11:40The U.S., in a sense, was like a bank that overexpanded.
01:11:43You know, we promised to convert paper dollars into gold.
01:11:47And so foreigners say, hey, the Americans don't really have enough gold to honor their promise to pay these dollars.
01:11:52So they started asking for the gold.
01:11:57On Monday, August 9th, 1971, an official from the Bank of England arrives in Washington.
01:12:03In his briefcase, a financial bomb.
01:12:08Orders to redeem $3 billion worth of gold.
01:12:13President Nixon fears this could set off an exodus of gold.
01:12:18A few days later, he secretly summons his economic advisers to Camp David.
01:12:31He warns them, tell no one of their whereabouts, not even their wives.
01:12:36Gentlemen, I gathered all of you here today.
01:12:39They agree he needs to do something before the markets open on Monday.
01:12:42But what?
01:12:44Friday afternoon, Nixon tells them his plan.
01:12:47A series of dramatic measures sure to shake up the economic landscape.
01:12:54Not everyone is on board.
01:12:57By Saturday afternoon, the decision is made.
01:13:00Now the tough part.
01:13:02Selling it to the American public and the world.
01:13:12More like a screenplay than a speech.
01:13:14Every word is carefully crafted.
01:13:20Nixon waits for updates as advisers argue and speechwriters type.
01:13:29Then on Sunday evening, August 15th, 1971, Nixon announces his new economic policy to the nation.
01:13:39Bonanza, normally seen at this time, will be shown in its entirety immediately after a special report from NBC News.
01:13:47Good evening.
01:13:48The time has come for a new economic policy for the United States.
01:13:52I have directed Secretary Connolly to suspend temporarily the convertibility of the dollar into gold or other reserve assets, except
01:14:02in amounts and conditions determined to be in the interest of monetary stability and in the best interest of the
01:14:08United States.
01:14:09I am determined that the American dollar must never again be a hostage in the hands of international speculators.
01:14:17The U.S. will stop backing its money with gold.
01:14:22It will stop giving gold for dollars.
01:14:25The move comes to be known as the Nixon shock.
01:14:29When Nixon closed the gold window, gold really did cease to be money.
01:14:35It was still a very important commodity and people watched the price fluctuate, but it really ceased to be money.
01:14:43It represented a major change because people had believed that we should anchor our monetary systems in a precious metal.
01:14:52This is a new world now. We don't know how it's going to work out.
01:14:56From now on, the U.S. dollar will float, its value determined by the world market.
01:15:04Gold morphs into phantom money.
01:15:09It no longer has any connection to hard currency.
01:15:1612 years after the Nixon shock, some crooks find that out the hard way in one of the greatest robberies
01:15:23in history.
01:15:28November 26th, 1983.
01:15:31This is a big day for Anthony Black, but he's late for work.
01:15:35He slept in.
01:15:38Black is a security guard at the Brink's Mat Security Company near Heathrow Airport, London.
01:15:52The company warehouses valuable goods from around the world in its vaults.
01:16:02Things aren't going well for Black.
01:16:06His personal life is falling apart.
01:16:10He's in debt and hounded by creditors.
01:16:15Things at work aren't much better.
01:16:18He's not exactly a model employee.
01:16:25Sorry, never slept.
01:16:27Well, she's naked.
01:16:39Minutes after arriving, Black heads to a loading bay.
01:16:42I don't even know how to make this world.
01:17:09The men he lets in are professional thieves.
01:17:17The ringleaders are Brian Robinson, Black's brother-in-law, a veteran armed robber, and
01:17:23Mickey McAvoy, who's an up-and-comer in the London underworld.
01:17:38They're about to steal more than $4 million in cash sitting in the Brinksmack vault.
01:17:46All Black has to do is play along when the action starts.
01:18:15All right, here's behind your heads!
01:18:17Get behind your head!
01:18:20Shut up!
01:18:22I'm behind your head!
01:18:24We miss this man!
01:18:29I was caught by the road!
01:18:31We all could!
01:18:32You're back!
01:18:35You're back!
01:18:48the robbers know which guards have the codes to the vault black has already told
01:18:53them they just need them to share the information three one four five nine two six
01:19:46inside the vault no four million dollars in cash
01:19:51just a stack of boxes
01:20:17boxes full of gold
01:20:23every villain's dream
01:20:27a hall worth almost ten times the hall they were hoping for
01:20:35and it weighs a whole lot more
01:20:40seven thousand pounds in all
01:20:44enough to bottom out the springs on the van
01:20:47and nearly snap the axle
01:21:01in less than two hours they've pulled off the biggest heist in british history
01:21:08and they have a big problem if it had been paper currency that they'd found in there
01:21:13you just count it out hand everybody a water though and that's the end of it
01:21:19they have a situation
01:21:21how do you turn three and a half tons of gold into cash that you can spend at the pub
01:21:28it's the biggest robbery in british history
01:21:30this morning a gang of armed robbers made off with 26 million pounds of gold bullion
01:21:36from the brinksmatt warehouse outside heathrow
01:21:39scotland yard is leading the hunt
01:21:41and said there is no doubt the men had inside information
01:21:45gold is not money it's not easy to negotiate it's not the kind of market that a bunch of hoods
01:21:51can pull up to in a truck and just get rid of their gold for paper they weren't masterminds
01:21:58robinson and mcavoy are way out of their league
01:22:02what do you do with 6,800 bars of stolen gold
01:22:14enter kenneth noy
01:22:15known in the london papers as a multi-millionaire gangland killer
01:22:20kenneth mate
01:22:22noy is a true criminal mastermind
01:22:29if anyone can figure out how to turn this gold into cash
01:22:35it's him
01:22:41noy begins by performing a little alchemy
01:22:45in reverse
01:22:49noy's associates melt down the gold ingots
01:22:52into small batches and mix in a few copper coins
01:22:59the gold turns into scrap
01:23:02it's a clever disguise
01:23:04the gold is now low-grade alloy that's untraceable
01:23:12noy can launder it through the gold for cash market without attracting any attention
01:23:21at least that's the plan
01:23:30that's the plan
01:23:45for random men that were they mr. black
01:23:52they know black's sister is married to one of the gang members
01:23:56brian robinson
01:23:58they hammer away at him and after eight hours
01:24:01black confesses to everything
01:24:05mcavoy and robinson are arrested
01:24:08and eventually sentenced to 25 years
01:24:12but where is the gold
01:24:15meanwhile when 20 million dollars is deposited into a bank in bristol
01:24:21it gets noticed
01:24:28for his part
01:24:29noy gets 14 years
01:24:32and the gold
01:24:33about a third of the haul was laundered
01:24:35the rest valued at close to half a billion dollars
01:24:38is still missing
01:24:41out there somewhere
01:24:44half of the engagement rings
01:24:46and wedding rings sold in england
01:24:48from the time of the brink's mat robbery till today
01:24:52contain at least some brink's mat gold
01:24:56that's the thing about gold
01:24:58as soon as you melt it
01:24:59it could be anybody's gold
01:25:03gold never really disappears
01:25:05it came here long before us
01:25:08and will be here long after we're gone
01:25:10I think we'll always love gold
01:25:13it gives you such a positive energy
01:25:16and it makes you feel good
01:25:18it's something of magical
01:25:21our lust for gold comes at a price
01:25:25almost every proposed new mine draws protest
01:25:28there are environmental consequences
01:25:30particularly in the less regulated developing world
01:25:35the release of mercury used in some places
01:25:37to separate gold from rock
01:25:39can have deadly effects
01:25:43cyanide and sulfuric acid
01:25:45has leaked into the water tables
01:25:47with devastating results
01:25:51environmentalists keep pushing
01:25:52for more regulations
01:25:53to curb irresponsible practices
01:25:58the US Geological Survey
01:26:00estimates there are only 54,000 tons of gold
01:26:03yet to be found on planet earth
01:26:05experts claim we're only 20 years away
01:26:08from mining all of the world's gold
01:26:11so we've started looking for gold
01:26:13under the seabed
01:26:17the Chinese who have an insatiable appetite for gold
01:26:21have a fleet of underwater prospecting vessels
01:26:25and have already acquired the rights to certain areas
01:26:30of the seabed in the Indian Ocean
01:26:34conservationists
01:27:01conservationists worry about deep-sea mining
01:27:01we know something about the geology of this
01:27:04and we have little rovers
01:27:05crawling around Mars as we speak
01:27:08and we can think about exploring for gold
01:27:12astronomers have discovered a planet in the Milky Way
01:27:15made largely of diamonds
01:27:17is there a solid gold one out there
01:27:21it's hard to envision
01:27:24but that doesn't mean that somewhere in the future
01:27:27I'm sure Christopher Columbus couldn't imagine
01:27:29a car or an airplane
01:27:31so our imagination really is the fundamental limit
01:27:33whether we mine gold underwater
01:27:36or somewhere in space
01:27:39one thing is certain
01:27:41we are as desperate to find it now
01:27:43as ever
01:27:44it's gold
01:27:46and we humans can't resist it
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