http://caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=68200&ct_id=1
Iraqi gold rush as fog of war lifts
Today at 6:41 am
The recent discovery in Baghdad of what may be one of the world’s largest gold deposits could make Iraq a bigger producer of precious metal than oil, and help it pay its outstanding debt to Western countries stemming from the two Gulf Wars.
What’s more, the gold vein found in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood is expected to increase the area’s real estate prices with the influx of hundreds, if not thousands, of gold seekers, according to a report by another site.com.
As Iraq — with one of the world’s largest untapped oil deposits—continues to increase its oil production output for export, the discovery of large quantities of gold changes the economic landscape for the Middle Eastern country, noted James Méndez, president of Méndez Internet Management Services, an authorized money service business and Iraqi currency broker based in Puerto Rico.
“This means that in addition to large quantities of oil, Iraq will have one of the world’s largest gold deposits, which ensures the country will have plenty of money to pay its debts and to cover the cost of the upcoming revaluation of its currency, which should happen soon,” Méndez told CARRIBEAN BUISNESS online.
Mining operations continue in the upscale Aldajh area after the discovery of the existence of large quantities of gold in the soil, another site.com reported Wednesday.
For more than two years, exploration and drilling have been going on under the streets in the region, extending from Fudhaliyah to Obeidi, where low-lying water channels are used for the diversion of rainwater during flood seasons.
The drilling operations extend for several meters deep into the earth, except for longitudinal drilling spanning more than ten kilometers (6.2 miles), the online report said.
So far the mining has raised thousands of tons of earth, which has been set aside in order to extract the gold particles, the report said.