Precious but precarious: High gold prices driving interest in Celtic fringe

Old gold-mining shafts are being reopened around the world, as economic uncertainty and scepticism about other assets has sent the gold price soaring: the yellow metal hit a record high of over $1,400 an ounce in December, double its 2007 level (though it has since fallen a little). Abandoned veins in mineral-rich countries have become viable again—and despite the relatively steep extraction costs, a miniature gold rush might be under way in Britain, too. Read the report in The Economist: