The Petro America Corporation have announced today that they are hoping to acquire more gold mines to add to those acquired recently. The corporation revealed that they are in negotiations with with a further two gold mines.

The Corporation have already acquired a 24% interest in a California gold mine which is set to produce 1.7 million ounces of gold.

It is believed that these acquisitions will be of significant value to the Corporations shareholders as the price of gold continues to grow as investors buy gold as a hedge against financial uncertainty.

The media continues to be full of reports about the continued rise in worldwide demand for gold. The major financial journals, websites etc are all commentating on investors search for stable investments in uncertain economic times. Investors are becoming increasing keen to buy gold.

This summer has seen a rise in the price of gold being traded on international markets. With concerns about inflation, the gold markets show no signs of cooling unlike the currency markets which continue to fluctuate.

This interest in gold is being reflected even at a local level with advertisements appearing more frequently in local newspapers placed by jewellers who are offering to buy any scrap gold.

With the price of gold at almost $1,000 an ounce and the continued recession in America some are predicting their will be a return of the California Gold Rush which took place over 160 years ago.

Currently, many individuals are buying mining and panning equipment and are hoping to strike it lucky and find gold.

The original California Gold Rush took place between 1848 and 1855. It all started when gold was discovered by James Wilson Marshall in Coloma, California. As news of his discovery spread, men, women and children flocked in their tens of thousands to the area hoping to find gold.

In recent years, the addition of gold to your investment portfolio has proved to be a successful principle. Figures show that this principle was indeed true in 2008 as gold beat all other investments for the second year running. During the first months of 2009 gold hit a 7 month high reaching US$973.2 an ounce. So what is the future for gold as an investment and what are experts saying to those who wish to buy gold.

The advice seems to remain the same in that gold has always been a safe haven and recession proof investment. The price of gold can fluctuate and is often volatile but in general it maintains its value extremely well. It generally behaves in an inverse way to the value of the US dollar – in other words as the value of the dollar falls the value of gold tends to rise.

There are several ways in which individuals can buy gold. The most obvious is to invest in physical items of jewellery but its important to remember that the price you pay will include the cost of making the item and you are therefore likely to pay a premium.

One of the biggest innovations in today’s gold market is the introduction of online gold exchanges like www.goldmadesimple.com. This revolution has opened up the market to smaller investors in a way never seen before. It enables investors to buy gold bar and then for it to be stored securely in professionally run vaults. This method takes away the uncertainty and risk associated with buying and then storing a physical asset.

According to recent reports the insecurity of the worlds economic position has led to changes in the gold buying habits of Middle Eastern investors. During recent hard times the form in which they buy gold has switched from buying jewellery for purely aesthetic reasons to investment in gold bar and gold bullion.

An independent financial advisor based in Dubai said that, “the investment demand level for gold for the Middle East on the whole has been very buoyant”.

Gold is a more reliable investment in times of economic uncertainty than currency and is seen as a safe haven against risk.

Imports of gold bullion into Dubai during the first half of 2009 are 13% up on the levels imported during the first half of 2008.

Financial experts have reported that, with the Dollar up again yesterday, gold prices till haven’t been able to break the $965 mark but are still predicting a possible rise to $990 which was the high reached in June. It remains a good time to buy gold in the form of gold bullion or gold bar.

Other investment areas are predicted to fair less well with oil prices stuck at just above $70 per barrel and expected to consolidate there for a while.

VIX is still at its lowest level since last September and doesn’t look as if it will break above 26. VIX is a measure of how active, in other words volatile and prone to over pricing, a selection of 500 regularly traded shares in the US are.

The price of gold remained more or less unchanged on the London Markets today. But the drop in the dollar is likely to encourage more investment as gold bullion and gold bar are seen as a hedge against weakening currencies.

As explained in previous news items gold tends to rise when currencies weaken and the dollar according to the US Dollar Index declined by as much as 0.3% today.

A hedge fund refers to a type of investement portfolio which enables investors to spread their investments over different commodities thus reducing the risk.

Speculators and managers responsible for hedge-funds are predicting that gold prices will rise and have increased their short term investment plans by 12%.

It’s been reported that HSBC Holdings announced yesterday that it has raised its forecast for the price of gold in 2009.

HSBC are now forecasting an increase from $875 an ounce to $925 an ounce. This increase is due to a combination of factors including the increased popularity of gold as an investment which is resilient in times of inflation, the weakening dollar and the slow down in the output of the mines. This prediction indicates that it's a very good time to buy gold.

The demand for gold bullion because of its investment potential has led to a sharp increase in the UK’s Royal Mint production. During April, May and June 2009 output rose to 16,910 ounces compared to 8,030 ounces for the same period in the previous year.

It’s widely recognized that the increased demand for gold as a physical and tangible investment is due to the worst recession experienced in post war Britain. Gold is seen to be a reliable store of wealth in difficult economic times.

Trends are moving towards individual and very often small investors who buy gold in the form of gold bullion and gold bar.

During the first quarter of the year demand for gold coins also doubled compared to the same period in 2008. For example, Rand Refinery Ltd which is globally the biggest gold refiner increased coin production to the highest levels in approximately 23 years in January this year. Whilst, at the same time, the Austrian mint, Muenze Oesterreich AG, reported that it sold a record breaking 1.5 million ounces of gold last year.