- 6/6/2025
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00:00:00we 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 spreading mayhem
00:00:17unhappiness in many parts of the world people have killed for it nations have
00:00:24fallen over though 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
00:00:54space
00:01:08what they left behind lay buried until man came along and our love affair with the
00:01:19gold glittering metal began
00:01:21the 49ers of the great gold rush 165 years ago don't care where gold comes from
00:01:35they're chasing the American dream gold can make them rich what they don't know is that under their feet
00:01:49lies a sea of gold
00:01:51richer than their wildest dreams
00:01:53they just can't see it
00:01:56gone are the panhandlers
00:02:01you can't mine it you can't process it until you find it so the first step you've got to figure out 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 to start looking deeper
00:02:19we have to look beyond the obvious
00:02:21we have to look beyond the obvious
00:02:22today the prospector's mule is a helicopter
00:02:26the quest is the same
00:02:29is there gold there
00:02:31it's good to see you again
00:02:32good to see you again
00:02:33the answer is always yes the question is how much gold is there anybody who picks up a rock has found gold but it might be a few molecules and you're not going to get much money for a few molecules
00:02:43northeastern Nevada still holds the biggest gold bearing deposit in America
00:02:48do you have the maps of the area?
00:02:50I do yep
00:02:51Jared Townsend of Barrick Gold has figured out where to look and his fellow geophysicist Jeff Plasto of Geotech goes prospecting
00:03:01the sharp eye needed to spot gold bearing rock is now a gigantic electromagnetic system
00:03:13all right we'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 and its related structures thousands of feet below the surface
00:03:27that sand is sometimes where gold can be found
00:03:31it's costly and time consuming
00:03:35but aerial exploration can narrow the search
00:03:39like the 49ers
00:03:43there's no guarantee
00:03:45back on the ground
00:03:53Jeff analyzes today's material
00:03:55we're beginning to map it down to depth
00:03:57okay that might be down towards more of our target depth
00:04:00it gives us a real feel for the area where we potentially have our gold deposit
00:04:05thanks for coming by it's good seeing you
00:04:06thanks for showing me through it
00:04:07the chances of actually finding a really big mine are very low
00:04:10so 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
00:04:20we never stop
00:04:22that's what we get up every day and come to work for is to make another discovery
00:04:28once they identify a spot the test drills get to work
00:04:40these machines can cut a mile deep through hard rock
00:04:4525 years ago if I had come in with a proposal to drill a 3,000 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
00:05:01finding deeper than anybody's ever looked before
00:05:04what is it about gold that makes us go to such great lengths to find it?
00:05:10it's a symbol of wealth
00:05:12it's a symbol of status
00:05:13it's a symbol of importance
00:05:15he who has the gold makes the rule
00:05:18in 1375
00:05:23Spanish 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
00:05:32more gold than anyone else
00:05:34and he makes all the rules
00:05:38the text says
00:05:40so abundant is the gold which is found in his country
00:05:43that he is the richest and most noble king in the land
00:05:48his name
00:05:52is Mansa Musa
00:05:55in 1312 when he takes power
00:06:09he inherits a string of titles
00:06:11king of kings
00:06:17lion of molly
00:06:22and perhaps
00:06:23most important of all
00:06:26lord of the mines
00:06:29a survey put Mansa Musa as the world's richest man of all time
00:06:34they estimated his fortune at some 400 billion dollars
00:06:39for comparison Bill Gates came 12th on the list
00:06:41with something close to a quarter of Mansa Musa's wealth
00:06:45Mansa Musa is one of the most incredible characters in history
00:06:49and few of us have ever heard of him
00:06:51Musa rules an immense African empire
00:06:56the empire of Mali had the largest resources of gold known in the world at that time
00:07:04all gold in the kingdom belonged to Mansa Musa
00:07:08it was all his to do with as he pleased
00:07:12thousands of his subjects toil away in his gold mines
00:07:16the 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
00:07:35in the early years of his reign
00:07:38rebels and marauding bandits threaten his vast wealth
00:07:42to protect it
00:07:46he rules by the sword
00:07:49no
00:08:03no
00:08:05no
00:08:07you 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
00:08:35every Muslim who can has a sacred duty to make a pilgrimage to Mecca
00:08:45but there's more to this pilgrimage than meets the eye
00:08:52Spain the early 1980s
00:08:58businessman Mark Nathanson sits in the library
00:09:05he's obsessed with the story of Mansa Musa's gold mines
00:09:09Nathanson is a treasure hunter
00:09:12bitten by the gold bug
00:09:15by chance
00:09:17by chance
00:09:18he finds a 300 year old map of Musa's empire
00:09:23and a name
00:09:25Ophir
00:09:26a fabled lost city of gold
00:09:29he's convinced Mansa Musa and Ophir are connected
00:09:35and he thought
00:09:36and he thought
00:09:37where are the gold mines?
00:09:38what happened to them?
00:09:39in novels
00:09:40how many quests for gold
00:09:42start that way?
00:09:44somebody finds a map
00:09:46the treasure map
00:09:48and they're off
00:09:50Nathanson heads to Mali
00:09:52the lure of the treasure map is irresistible
00:09:56in 1324 Mansa Musa sets off on his own quest
00:10:11a 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
00:11:0272,000 in all
00:11:05it's a long journey
00:11:09in blistering heat
00:11:11across the treacherous sands of the Sahara
00:11:15temperatures hit 120 Fahrenheit in the summer
00:11:19and drop below freezing in the winter
00:11:22the Sahara is massive
00:11:27if we were to take the contiguous 48 United States of America
00:11:32you could drop it into the Sahara
00:11:34and there'd still be room around the edges
00:11:36many perish in the sandstorms
00:11:43the sands of time buried the gold mines of the richest man on earth
00:11:51tracking them down centuries later is a long shot at best
00:11:55Nathanson spends all his spare time knocking around the arid country of western Mali
00:12:06looking year after year
00:12:08even if treasure hunter Mark Nathanson finds the ancient mines
00:12:12there's no guarantee there's any gold left
00:12:15outside the tiny village of Satiola something 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 all time
00:12:44laden 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
00:13:07his quest for glory and a place in history
00:13:13every Friday to mark the Muslim holy day Mansa Musa leaves enough gold to finance the construction of a new mosque
00:13:24some still stand today
00:13:27he's displaying his power and his own magnificence by building all of these things
00:13:34after nine months the caravan to Mecca reaches its first big stop the gates of Cairo a financial center of the known world
00:13:46by now Mansa Musa has spread his wealth across North Africa
00:13:51and he's far from done
00:13:55Cairo has never seen anything like it
00:14:00if you've got it flaunted
00:14:04he wanted to show it off
00:14:06like the guy who walks into a bar and buys everybody a drink
00:14:12Mansa Musa would be the guy who'd walk into the bar and buy the bar and then buy everyone a drink
00:14:27Mansa Musa spends three months shopping in the world famous markets of Cairo
00:14:33he leaves behind tons of gold
00:14:44by the time he rides out of town
00:14:50Mansa Musa has changed the world
00:14:54Mansa Musa spent so much in gold
00:14:57that 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
00:15:15obsessed with finding lost gold mines
00:15:18businessman Mark Nathanson may finally have hit gold
00:15:22outside the village of Sariola
00:15:29his translator asks a village elder about the tunnel in the hill
00:15:33he tells them it was once a gold mine
00:15:39but now it's abandoned
00:15:42his ancestors worked it for centuries
00:15:47until a massive collapse killed every man inside
00:16:09since then the hill has been forbidden ground the villagers say
00:16:14an ancient mine untouched for a century
00:16:29he said many people lost their lives
00:16:31Nathanson says nothing
00:16:35a pool of some is they may secrecy is everything in the quest for gold
00:16:42treasure hunter Mark Nathanson has discovered what he thinks is one of Mansa Musa's gold mines
00:16:55he needs exploration rights for the area without tipping off his competitors
00:17:00so Nathanson staked a huge area of ground
00:17:07it was being very very cagey
00:17:09he deliberately did that to disguise his intentions
00:17:12to explore this massive plot of land
00:17:15he needs investors
00:17:17while there could be a huge reward
00:17:19the chances of fabulous wealth are small
00:17:22most people in the exploration game lose their shirts
00:17:25but Nathanson is a persuasive man
00:17:29he's selling a golden dream
00:17:32you're buying that quest
00:17:35and if they hit it
00:17:37it's gonna be worth a huge amount
00:17:40it takes years of secrecy and struggle
00:17:43before they can drill
00:17:45when they do
00:17:46they hit pay dirt right away
00:17:49gold like they never imagined
00:17:52Nathanson discovers a legendary gold field
00:17:57that nearly 700 years earlier
00:18:00helped make Mansa Musa the richest man in the world
00:18:04today
00:18:06the Satiola mine produces 400,000 ounces of gold a year
00:18:10480 million dollars worth
00:18:14making Mark Nathanson a very wealthy man
00:18:18a guy like that
00:18:20he 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
00:18:34but it's another king
00:18:36born over 2,000 years earlier
00:18:39who is the original bling king
00:18:42Tutankhamun of Egypt
00:18:44the ancient Egyptians are so in love with gold
00:18:47even in death
00:18:49they couldn't part with it
00:18:51they would put them in their tombs
00:18:53hoping that in the afterlife
00:18:55they would have all of these treasures with them
00:18:57and to go and become gods
00:19:03British Egyptologist Howard Carter
00:19:05has been digging around Egypt
00:19:07looking for a missing Pharaoh
00:19:09whose tomb he believes contains fabulous golden treasure
00:19:13in 1922 his wealthy backer Lord Carnarvon
00:19:18summons Carter to England
00:19:20after five years with no results
00:19:23Carnarvon is tired of pouring money into the dig
00:19:30he's calling off the search
00:19:32Carter begs for one more chance
00:19:35Carnarvon reluctantly agrees
00:19:53November 4th 1922
00:19:55three days after they start work
00:19:57Carter finds steps
00:19:59steps
00:20:01steps leading down to an ancient doorway
00:20:05could this be a secret chamber
00:20:08perhaps a burial chamber
00:20:14Carter sends a telegram to Lord Carnarvon
00:20:16at last have made wonderful discovery in valley
00:20:20a magnificent tomb
00:20:22a magnificent tomb
00:20:23with seals intact
00:20:25congratulations
00:20:26Carter
00:20:30twenty days later
00:20:31Lord Carnarvon arrives
00:20:32and the two make their way
00:20:34to the sealed doorway
00:20:43Carter breaks a small hole
00:20:45in the top corner
00:20:46at first he sees only darkness
00:20:52as his eyes adjust to the light
00:20:55shapes of statues and animals emerge
00:20:58everywhere
00:20:59the glint of gold
00:21:01Carnarvon asks Carter
00:21:03can you see anything
00:21:05yes
00:21:07wonderful things
00:21:13Howard Carter discovers the most famous treasure
00:21:15treasure trove of modern times
00:21:18the big prize
00:21:20Tutankhamun's coffin
00:21:22just over six feet long
00:21:24made of solid gold
00:21:26and weighing two hundred and forty pounds
00:21:29the gold alone is worth almost five million dollars today
00:21:33the coffin itself
00:21:35priceless
00:21:37King Tut's Mask
00:21:39over 22 pounds of solid gold
00:21:42the discovery fuels a world of gold
00:21:44discovery fuels a worldwide fascination with Egypt
00:21:48when the collection tours the United States 50 years later
00:21:52more than eight million visitors marvel at the boy king's riches
00:21:57gold is commonly associated with funeral practices
00:22:00because gold doesn't change with time
00:22:03gold is eternal
00:22:04to satisfy our hunger for gold we move mountains
00:22:11we mine more of the precious metal than the ancients could ever imagine
00:22:25gold strike in northeastern Nevada is the second largest gold mine in the US
00:22:30it's part of barrack 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 1500 feet down
00:22:46deeper than the Empire State Building is high
00:22:49all of 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 it's all microscopic
00:23:04and the way we find that gold is through blast hole drilling
00:23:16every day is a blast for Sid Owen and his crew
00:23:19a blast of 700,000 tons of gold bearing limestone ore
00:23:23432 Dan we'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
00:23:34when we're preparing to blast we drill big holes in the rock
00:23:38we put explosives in the hole and that explosive is ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel
00:23:43every month we use between 1.5 million and 2 million pounds of ammonium nitrate
00:23:48431 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
00:24:12each ton of ore might only produce a tenth of an ounce of gold
00:24:16it 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
00:24:38all the gold ever found would fill up less than one-third of the Washington Monument
00:24:44the world produces that much steel every five weeks
00:24:49it takes billions of dollars to mine that ore
00:24:53our hunger for gold makes it worth the effort
00:24:56today with the price of gold around $1200 an ounce
00:25:02miners spare no expense
00:25:04this shovel is the largest of its kind in the world
00:25:10and at more than $20 million it's also the most expensive
00:25:14the haul trucks can hold 300 tons of blasted ore
00:25:19the shovel can load one with three scoops
00:25:23a truck can back in empty and leave with a full load in one minute
00:25:27a conveyor belt dumps the ore into a massive revolving drum
00:25:42inside steel balls smash it to a fine powder
00:25:48pumps move that powder into a series of tanks
00:25:55cyanide freeze the tiny specks of gold from the pulverized rock
00:26:02enough gold has been mined here to make its founder Canadian Peter Monk
00:26:07a very rich man
00:26:11Peter Monk set out to create a great gold mining company
00:26:15and he succeeded in creating the greatest gold mining company
00:26:19it almost never happened
00:26:22he's 16 years old
00:26:24when the Nazis sweep into Budapest
00:26:27how did they escape
00:26:29the greatest killing machine in history
00:26:32sometimes the quest for gold can be a quest for life itself
00:26:45in 1944 the German army marches into Budapest
00:26:51and begins rounding up Hungarian Jews
00:26:54Peter Monk is just 16 years old
00:26:59the monk family faces death in a concentration camp
00:27:05but inside this briefcase could be a ticket out
00:27:10the monks are a wealthy banking family
00:27:21the briefcase has been filled with gold
00:27:24the family hopes it's enough to buy their way to freedom
00:27:34a secret escape route via a train to Switzerland
00:27:40their fate rests in the hands of a Nazi official in charge of the deportations
00:27:54he will decide if the monk family can get on the train to freedom
00:28:13whether they live or die
00:28:15live or die
00:28:45the most notorious mass murderers in history allow Peter Monk and his family
00:29:03to live
00:29:05but can Peter live with the fact that he has to leave his mother behind
00:29:09his parents are divorced
00:29:13she insists he go with his father
00:29:18a few days later
00:29:23the Nazis put his mother in a boxcar to Auschwitz
00:29:26one of the most heartbreaking things in Monk's life
00:29:31was having to leave his mother behind
00:29:33as he fled
00:29:34to freedom
00:29:35she survived the concentration camps where she ended up
00:29:39and they were reunited after the war
00:29:41the gold the monk family pays for their escape
00:29:48disappears into a colossal Nazi slush fund
00:29:51during world war two
00:30:03its estimated Nazi Germany steals as much as the modern equivalent
00:30:08of five and a half billion dollars worth of gold
00:30:11from foreign governments
00:30:13it's what the victors did to the vanquish throughout human history
00:30:17it just shows an extreme form of a fascination with gold
00:30:22that we have to grab all the gold we can
00:30:24the Nazis store their gold plunder in the Reich Bank in Berlin
00:30:29in the dying days of the war with allied bombers pounding the city
00:30:36the Nazis move it to a safer place
00:30:39General Patton's advancing army receives a report
00:30:43that some of it is hidden in a salt mine in central Germany
00:30:52in April 1945
00:30:54Patton and Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower
00:30:57go down into the mine to see for themselves
00:31:00two of the highest ranking men in the U.S. Army
00:31:04a worn-out cable
00:31:07holds them from a 2,100-foot freefall to the bottom
00:31:11they have no idea what awaits
00:31:15they have no idea what awaits
00:31:27there before them an unbelievable sight
00:31:31more than 4,000 sacks all neatly cataloged
00:31:34and stuffed with gold bullion
00:31:38100 tons of it
00:31:41evidence of the largest robbery in the history of the world
00:31:46there's a vast quantity of personal items of gold
00:31:50mainly stolen from Jews before they were sent off to their death
00:31:54man's greed knows no bounds
00:31:58they took gold out of teeth of people that they murdered
00:32:04they stole a lot of gold
00:32:07they pretty much stole everything they could get their hands on
00:32:11the gold is hauled up by U.S. Army engineers
00:32:15and shipped to a bank vault in Frankfurt
00:32:18perhaps some of it is the gold Peter Monk's family paid to buy their freedom
00:32:24Peter Monk is the great Phoenix character of the modern gold business
00:32:31he's a financial genius with the ability to raise himself up from the ashes
00:32:37he built a 14 million dollar gold mining company into a 50 billion dollar empire
00:32:43that is the biggest gold mining company in the world
00:32:46when you can't mine gold from the surface of the earth
00:32:53the quest takes you underground
00:32:56good to go?
00:32:59at Monk's gold strike complex near Elko, Nevada
00:33:02there's tons of gold that can't be reached by open pit mining
00:33:06so the miners go underground
00:33:09a much more expensive and dangerous venture
00:33:19Miguel La Madrid
00:33:23the head of underground operations
00:33:26and his colleague Pat Chacon
00:33:28make the four-minute commute to the bottom to inspect the tunnels
00:33:30one-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
00:33:50the mine has one of the largest air conditioning systems in the world
00:33:54there it goes
00:33:58accessing the gold here requires the same techniques as in the open pit
00:34:05first they blast
00:34:08now how long do you think it's going to take us to buck this heading?
00:34:15it'll be mucking probably a half hour
00:34:17very good man
00:34:19loaders scoop up the ore
00:34:21the ore sifts through the grate to a chute below
00:34:35a truck brings the ore to the surface
00:34:38where it's hauled to the surface
00:34:40the ore sifts through the grate to a chute below
00:34:45a truck brings the ore to the surface
00:34:49where 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
00:35:11and under enormous pressure
00:35:13the shell breaks down freeing the gold
00:35:15all the gold from the open pit and the underground mine
00:35:22ends 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
00:35:30which is extremely warm
00:35:33you'll catch on fire if it hits you
00:35:35that's why we wear our Kevlar uniform
00:35:39so we don't injure anybody
00:35:43there it is
00:35:45liquid gold
00:35:47we'll have a total of about 10,000 ounces
00:35:51all 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
00:35:57we're running around 90% gold
00:36:00at 90% pure gold
00:36:03each bar weighs 56 pounds
00:36:05to get that one bar
00:36:09miners have to process up to 9,000 tons of ore
00:36:13each bar about the size of a household brick
00:36:17is worth nearly half a million dollars
00:36:22every year about 900,000 ounces of gold leave this mine
00:36:26that's pushing a billion dollars worth
00:36:28the gold heads to a refinery that impurities
00:36:37the refinery at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa, Canada
00:36:41was the first to produce gold
00:36:43today it is one of the most technically advanced and respected gold refineries in the world
00:36:49purity after all is security
00:36:54you wouldn't buy a used car without knowing more about it
00:36:58and so anytime you're going to actually trade physical gold
00:37:01somebody's going to analyze it to make sure that's what it should be
00:37:05gold with various levels of impurities arrives here from many different places
00:37:11first engineers melt a small sample and weigh it
00:37:16this one weighs two ounces
00:37:22they smelt again to burn off impurities
00:37:28they weigh a second time
00:37:34it's now 10% lighter
00:37:37this is dore gold
00:37:4090% pure
00:37:41knowing this they reproduce the process on a larger scale
00:37:47removing impurities and creating pure 24 carat gold bars
00:37:56the final stage
00:37:58stamping each bar with the four nines
00:38:0199.99% pure gold
00:38:04at 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
00:38:20stealing it
00:38:22is another
00:38:24our lives are governed
00:38:26by two
00:38:28emotions
00:38:30fear
00:38:31and greed
00:38:41in 1532 Francisco Pizarro lands on the Pacific shores of the New World
00:38:47before him lies the vast Inca Empire
00:38:51at the time the largest nation on earth
00:38:54he's on a mission
00:38:56to rob the place
00:38:58the king of Spain
00:39:00the king of Spain
00:39:02told Pizarro and the conquistadors go and get me gold at any cost get gold
00:39:10Inca spies watch their every move
00:39:16you
00:39:18go the king of the land
00:39:20come on
00:39:22come on
00:39:23come on
00:39:25come on
00:39:29when Pizarro's troops started to go inland
00:39:31they knew they were going into the most powerful Empire ever seen in the new world
00:39:35they they knew they were getting themselves into the middle of something
00:39:39where they were going to have to depend on the military tactics to succeed
00:39:42succeed. Pizarro is a businessman. He sees an opportunity to make a killing.
00:39:54With the help of investors he cobbles together a few ships. A small force of
00:40:00sixty-two horsemen and one hundred and six foot soldiers Pizarro and his tiny army head inland
00:40:25intending to steal as much gold as his ships can carry the Inca Emperor Atahualpa is all-powerful
00:40:41he's a god to his subjects with thousands of soldiers at his command Atahualpa is not the
00:40:50least bit worried about this small band of strangers 168 of them how could 168 boorish rapacious men
00:41:02possibly contest the the power of Atahualpa Francisco Pizarro leads his army of 168 men
00:41:14deep into Inca territory with one simple objective steal the gold the Spaniards were incredibly greedy
00:41:24for gold so greedy they may have underestimated the task the Inca Emperor Atahualpa has been keeping tabs
00:41:38on the Spanish and has plans of his own what Atahualpa was planning to do was to capture them
00:41:44kill a bunch of the soldiers and castrate the rest and then breed the horses the Spaniards make it up
00:41:52into the high Andes and come out at the very place where the Inca Atahualpa was encamped with his army
00:42:00Cayamarca as it's now called they come over this high pass and they're suddenly they see in this valley below them
00:42:11this enormous army 80,000 warriors only 168 of them the Spaniards said we're in trouble there is no way that they
00:42:26would be able to resist the power of that army that lay before them were they frightened we know they
00:42:31were this was beyond anything that they could conceivably have expected
00:42:36Pizarro knows Atahualpa controls all the gold in the Empire
00:42:49if he can get his hands on the king he will have a treasure beyond reckoning vastly outnumbered
00:42:59Pizarro needs a cunning plan he sends an envoy to meet with Atahualpa
00:43:05Pizarro had an idea in mind we're going to feign friendly relationships
00:43:22a relationship of mutuality between the Spaniards and the Incas
00:43:31the envoy carries out the first phase of Pizarro's plan
00:43:35he tells the Emperor the Spanish have come in the spirit of friendship
00:43:43he offers Atahualpa a military alliance
00:43:50Pizarro is an experienced explorer in the new world and has a translator to communicate with Atahualpa
00:43:56certain he has nothing to lose he agrees to meet Pizarro the next day
00:44:09Pizarro tells his men to prepare for battle
00:44:22Pizarro tells his men to prepare for battle.
00:44:40To them, it's a suicide mission.
00:44:44The Spanish soldiers said, we were terrified.
00:44:49They were afraid that the next day they were all going to die.
00:44:59To 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
00:45:22to have a great conquest tomorrow, believe in me, trust in me, we will succeed.
00:45:27Attawulpa arrives in full regalia, seated on a golden throne.
00:45:34Attawulpa arrives in full regalia, seated on a golden throne.
00:45:53Pizarro sends a priest to present the emperor with a prayer book.
00:46:12The Inca have no concept of books.
00:46:23This offering means little to Attawulpa.
00:46:25Attawulpa!
00:46:32The cannons, the horses, other things the Incas have never seen.
00:46:51Before.
00:46:52And the 16th century weapon of mass destruction.
00:46:58Toledo steel.
00:46:59Toledo steel.
00:47:00It cuts through just about anything.
00:47:05The Incas have little more than sticks and stones.
00:47:06Two hours later.
00:47:077,000 Inca warriors live in full regalia.
00:47:08And the 16th century weapon of mass destruction.
00:47:09Toledo steel.
00:47:10It cuts through just about anything.
00:47:12The Incas have little more than sticks and stones.
00:47:28Two hours later, 7,000 Inca warriors lie dead.
00:47:35The Spanish don't lose a single man.
00:47:38The once mighty king is now the prisoner of Francisco Pizarro.
00:47:56With the Inca god king as his hostage, Francisco Pizarro holds the key to the 130-year-old Inca empire.
00:48:11They 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.
00:48:31His gold for his life.
00:48:39This comes as a big surprise to the king.
00:48:46For the Inca, gold has no monetary value.
00:48:53The 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 they 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, more 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.
00:49:52All 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.
00:50:08We have very, very few examples of Inca metal work, gold work, today.
00:50:20So 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.
00:50:33Pizarro 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.
00:51:01They melt down about 600 pounds of gold every day.
00:51:12The newly smelted ingots are stamped with the Spanish royal mark.
00:51:16The 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!
00:51:37Attawulpa 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.
00:51:47Pizarro!
00:51:49Pizarro!
00:51:50The Inca king is excess baggage.
00:51:56Pizarro!
00:51:57Pizarro!
00:51:58T
00:52:06Pizarro!
00:52:07Pizarro!
00:52:08I don't know.
00:52:38Spain 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.
00:53:07At 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.
00:53:21This money flowed into Europe and transformed the economy of Europe.
00:53:35He 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 because the gold didn't bring them anything
00:53:49like happiness.
00:53:50The, of that whole group, hardly any of them made it out alive.
00:53:56Francisco Pizarro was a simply ruthless character.
00:54:00He was just in charge of grand larceny.
00:54:05That was it.
00:54:09gold has gone from culture to cash.
00:54:15So much gold flows into Spain that Shakespeare writes of it being used as a form of torture,
00:54:26melted 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 in the world.
00:54:56Over the centuries, empires built on gold rise and fall, but our love for the precious metal never changes.
00:55:06Gold is special and what makes it special is thousands of years of people wanting it.
00:55:12It probably is, in terms of symbols, the ultimate one there is.
00:55:17While many people love gold as an investment, most of the world's annual output is still doing what it does best.
00:55:26Making a statement.
00:55:29You 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,
00:55:39there's always been a great status to gold.
00:55:43When 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.
00:56:27Designs may have changed, but the statement is the same.
00:56:31I'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.
00:56:45Oh, that one.
00:56:46It's early 19th century and it's made of all kinds of stunning gemstones.
00:56:51There are pink topazes like rose water here and aquamarines the color of the sea and a rather strident peridot there.
00:57:00Rubies, opals.
00:57:02It's a bouquet of gemstones really, held in gold.
00:57:06A lot of people who own gold own it vicariously.
00:57:11They never see it.
00:57:12They own it like stocks and shares.
00:57:15But 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.
00:57:28Here we see a cigarette case by Carl Fabergé, goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia.
00:57:35And it's decorated with aubergine enamel and little ties of diamonds in platinum.
00:57:43But the gold shines through.
00:57:45And the idea is that you'd offer your friends a cigarette from here and they'd take it.
00:57:50Your Imperial Majesty, will you have a cigarette? Yes, please.
00:57:53And 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.
00:58:17Hey Anton.
00:58:20Today in his workshop, his apprentice Jen hones her skill on the most essential piece of them all.
00:58:26Okay, great.
00:58:27What we're doing is we're trying to make a formal wedding band, half a pea-shaped wedding band.
00:58:32Okay.
00:58:33On-the-job training is the only way to learn the trade.
00:58:36Perfect.
00:58:37So you're going to melt that all together in a crystal.
00:58:40Mm-hmm.
00:58:41First to soften it so it's workable.
00:58:43Jen heats the gold to about 2,000 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.
00:59:10You get your steps right and you follow them through, then it just flows and it can go quickly.
00:59:14But as soon as you struggle with a step, then you have to move back again.
00:59:18An apprentice's lot in life.
00:59:23Try, try, and try again.
00:59:35All right, great.
00:59:36That's us.
00:59:37Yes.
00:59:39So I stressed out?
00:59:40Yes.
00:59:41Yeah, you stressed out.
00:59:42You stressed this gold out.
00:59:43Now you just have to relax it again.
00:59:45Perfect.
00:59:46Jen can move forward.
00:59:48I am going to cut this through.
00:59:55Bring the two ends together.
01:00:00Check the rough size.
01:00:03Solder the ring together.
01:00:08Great.
01:00:09No, that's almost there.
01:00:10Yeah.
01:00:11Right.
01:00:12Let me do the last little step of getting the round.
01:00:13Nothing that's shaved goes to waste.
01:00:14It's remelted and used in another piece.
01:00:15A perfect gold band.
01:00:16The symbol of eternal love.
01:00:18Perfect.
01:00:19The next step is the assay.
01:00:20A test to confirm the quality of the gold.
01:00:21If it's up to scratch, Anton will be able to get a hallmark.
01:00:22A hallmark guarantees customers that will be able to get a hallmark.
01:00:23It's remelted and used in another piece.
01:00:24It's remelted and used in another piece.
01:00:25A perfect gold band.
01:00:26The symbol of eternal love.
01:00:27Perfect.
01:00:28Perfect.
01:00:29The next step is the assay.
01:00:30A test to confirm the quality of the gold.
01:00:31If it's up to scratch, Anton will be able to get a hallmark.
01:00:35A hallmark guarantees customers they're getting the quality of the gold they paid for.
01:00:42A centuries-old form of consumer protection.
01:00:45In London, the place for that is Goldsmith's Hall.
01:00:50I'd just like to give that in for a special service.
01:00:51For 700 years, Goldsmith's Hall has been putting its stamp of approval on gold jewelry.
01:00:52That's where the word hallmark comes from.
01:00:53The hallmark guarantees customers they're getting the quality of the gold they paid for.
01:00:54A centuries-old form of consumer protection.
01:00:57In London, the place for that is Goldsmith's Hall.
01:01:03I'd just like to give that in for a special service.
01:01:10For 700 years, Goldsmith's 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.
01:01:28For 43 years, Dave Mary has been making his mark here.
01:01:34Molded.
01:01:36It's about a traceability and about a provenance.
01:01:39In 200 years' time, when you're obviously dead and gone,
01:01:42somebody can pick up a piece of your work and they 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 rain.
01:01:51Dave teaches young assayers the craft.
01:01:57When they finish their apprenticeship, they will formally be known as
01:02:01Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.
01:02:03Anton'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.
01:02:15Tradition lives on at London's Goldsmiths Hall.
01:02:20Goldsmith Anton Cata hopes a wedding ring he's made gets a hallmark.
01:02:24A consumer guarantee 700 years old.
01:02:28When an assayer scratches gold across a stone tablet, a touchstone,
01:02:33it leaves a distinctive yellow mark.
01:02:36That means it's up to scratch.
01:02:39The ancients used the same technology.
01:02:42Yep, looks okay.
01:02:43I would say that's a pass, wouldn't you?
01:02:44Yep.
01:02:45That's great.
01:02:46Yeah, that's fantastic.
01:02:47Yep, 18 carat.
01:02:48I'll take that.
01:02:50Look at that Anton Carter ring.
01:02:51The ring gets its hallmark.
01:02:52Excellent.
01:02:53Is that all right?
01:02:54Yeah, that's fine.
01:02:55That's great.
01:02:56Thanks.
01:02:57Anton will be pleased with that.
01:02:58Good.
01:02:59Gold has been recycled so many times that any piece of gold you buy technically could have
01:03:04started off life with the Minions or the Incas or the Ancients.
01:03:08the Egyptians.
01:03:09Gold is probably the most oldest form of recycling there is known to man because it's that same
01:03:15products that come round and round and round.
01:03:18Not every piece gets a hallmark.
01:03:21Two of the rings are coming up low.
01:03:23All right, okay.
01:03:24Oh, yeah.
01:03:25Oh, yeah.
01:03:26Oh, yeah.
01:03:27Oh, yeah.
01:03:28Oh, yeah.
01:03:29Oh, yeah.
01:03:30Oh, yeah.
01:03:31Oh, yeah.
01:03:32Oh, yeah.
01:03:33Oh, yeah.
01:03:34Oh, yeah.
01:03:35Oh, yeah.
01:03:36The surface of this ring appears to be gold.
01:03:41To find out if it's pure gold, the assayer applies a chemical similar to the original acid
01:03:49test.
01:03:50If you use the silver sulfate on there as well, the basement one 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.
01:04:13Craftsmen love the process because obviously it gives kudos to their work as such.
01:04:19It guarantees that when they're selling something onto the consumer, the consumer's got a certain
01:04:23amount of trust in place.
01:04:25This technology costs a lot more than the $200 touchstone, but it's worth it to guarantee
01:04:32that trust.
01:04:34One piece of copper.
01:04:37Packet now.
01:04:38Phone the customer inform them that there's his base metal ring in amongst his nine carat
01:04:43rings.
01:04:45Fantastic.
01:04:46No hallmark for this piece.
01:04:48And sometimes failure is a very sad story.
01:04:51I've had guys here standing at our counter crying their eyes out because they've invested
01:04:56their entire life savings on pieces of jewelry they thought were pretty good, but they're actually
01:05:01not at all.
01:05:03Real gold offers unique security in troubled times and some will take advantage of that.
01:05:10When something goes wrong somewhere in the world, people flock to gold because gold is something
01:05:16you can hold in your hand and will retain value because people prize it for its beauty, its
01:05:24transcendence.
01:05:25People want gold and people have done crazy things in order to get it.
01:05:30Spring, 1864.
01:05:35After three years of bloodshed, war-weary Americans pray the Civil War will end soon.
01:05:42Read 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.
01:05:57Lincoln to draft for a four-
01:05:59Share prices drop as investors rush to the old safe haven.
01:06:04Gold.
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.
01:06:14The 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 story came from.
01:06:38Days later, police show up at Howard's office.
01:06:54Turns out, Howard's heavily invested in gold.
01:06:59He sells it at a handsome profit, taking advantage of the gold craze his story causes.
01:07:08People can plant stories in the newspaper or post things on blogs to generate fluctuations in the market.
01:07:17People can profit off of that.
01:07:20Howard confesses, spends three months in jail, and is released in the summer of 1864.
01:07:30Joseph Howard's hoax and the resulting stampede to gold demonstrate our enduring belief that gold can see us through hard times.
01:07:43Seventy 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.
01:07:58The 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 have those anymore.
01:09:07You must turn them in to the government.
01:09:10Anyone 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 can 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.
01:09:26It's been called the Great Gold Robbery of 1933.
01:09:31People want gold for one very specific reason.
01:09:36Beyond wealth, security.
01:09:39It gives them great security.
01:09:41Over the next few years, the government takes in over $3 billion worth of gold.
01:09:48By 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.
01:10:25Deep underground, the gold vault lies behind a massive bomb-proof door, nearly two feet thick and weighing 20 tons.
01:10:35Fort Knox becomes the world's most famous bullion depository.
01:10:39The 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 the 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.
01:11:04When 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 1 35th 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.
01:11:54On Monday, August 9th, 1971, an official from the Bank of England arrives in Washington.
01:12:03In his briefcase, a financial bomb.
01:12:07Orders to redeem $3 billion worth of gold.
01:12:11President 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.
01:12:30Mr. President.
01:12:32He warns them, tell no one of their whereabouts.
01:12:35Not even their wives.
01:12:37Gentlemen, 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?
01:12:45Friday afternoon, Nixon tells them his plan.
01:12:48A 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.
01:13:25Then 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.
01:13:46Good evening.
01:13:47The time has come for a new economic policy for the United States.
01:13:53I have directed Secretary Connolly to suspend temporarily the convertibility of the dollar into gold or other reserve assets, except in amounts and conditions determined to be in the interest of monetary stability and in the best interest of the United States.
01:14:08I 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.
01:14:21It will stop giving gold for dollars.
01:14:25The move comes to be known as the Nixon shock.
01:14:28When Nixon closed the gold window, gold really did cease to be money.
01:14:34It was still a very important commodity and people watched the price fluctuate, but it really ceased to be money.
01:14:41It represented a major change because people had believed that we should anchor our monetary systems in a precious metal.
01:14:51Well, this is a new world now.
01:14:53We don't know how it's going to work out.
01:14:55From now on, the U.S. dollar will float, its value determined by the world market.
01:15:02Gold morphs into phantom money.
01:15:06It no longer has any connection to hard currency.
01:15:16Twelve years after the Nixon shock, some crooks find that out the hard way in one of the greatest robberies in history.
01:15:27November 26, 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 Brinksmatt Security Company near Heathrow Airport, London.
01:15:52The company warehouses valuable goods from around the world in its vaults.
01:15:56Things aren't going well for Black.
01:16:06His personal life is falling apart.
01:16:11He'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.
01:16:21Sorry, never slept.
01:16:26Well, Shishney.
01:16:27Minutes after arriving, Black heads to a loading bay.
01:16:42The men he lets in are professional flammes fans.
01:17:00The men he lets in are professional thieves.
01:17:17The ringleaders are Bryan 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.
01:17:47All Black has to do is play along when the action starts.
01:17:59All right, hands behind your hands!
01:18:06Hands behind your hands!
01:18:08Shut up!
01:18:10Hands behind your hands!
01:18:14Alright!
01:18:16Hands behind your heads!
01:18:18Hands behind your head!
01:18:20Shut up!
01:18:22Come on!
01:18:30We're okay!
01:18:32I'm back!
01:18:34I'm back!
01:18:36You're back!
01:18:38You're back!
01:18:40Let's go!
01:18:42The robbers know which guards have the codes to the vault.
01:18:52Black has already told them.
01:18:54They just need them to share the information.
01:19:093-1-4-1.
01:19:115-9-2-6.
01:19:185-9-2-6.
01:19:41Inside the vault, no $4 million in cash.
01:19:52Just a stack of boxes.
01:19:55Boxes full of gold.
01:20:21Every villain's dream.
01:20:26A haul worth almost 10 times the haul they were hoping for.
01:20:31And it weighs a whole lot more.
01:20:417,000 pounds in all.
01:20:44Enough to bottom out the springs on the van and nearly snap the axle.
01:20:49In less than two hours, they've pulled off the biggest heist in British history.
01:21:07And they have a big problem.
01:21:09If it had been paper currency that they'd found in there, you just count it out, hand everybody a wad of dough, and that's the end of it.
01:21:18They have a situation.
01:21:20How do you turn three and a half tons of gold into cash that you can spend at the pub?
01:21:27It's the biggest robbery in British history.
01:21:31This morning, a gang of armed robbers made off with 26 million pounds of gold bullion from the Brinksmatt warehouse outside Heathrow.
01:21:39Scotland Yard is leading the hunt and said there is no doubt the men had inside information.
01:21:44Gold is not money.
01:21:46It's not easy to negotiate.
01:21:48It's not the kind of market that a bunch of hoods can pull up to in a truck and just get rid of their gold for paper.
01:21:57They weren't masterminds.
01:21:59Robinson and McAvoy are way out of their league.
01:22:03What do you do with 6,800 bars of stolen gold?
01:22:14Enter Kenneth Noy, known in the London Papers as a multi-millionaire gangland killer.
01:22:21Kenneth, mate.
01:22:23Noy is a true criminal mastermind.
01:22:26Well, well.
01:22:27What the cat dragged in?
01:22:29That was you.
01:22:30If anyone can figure out how to turn this gold into cash, it's him.
01:22:36Noy begins by performing a little alchemy in reverse.
01:22:49Noy's associates melt down the gold ingots into 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.
01:23:13Noy can launder it through the gold for cash market without attracting any attention.
01:23:21At least, that's the plan.
01:23:30Scotland Yard zeroes in on Anthony Black.
01:23:33They know Black's sister is married to one of the gang members, Brian Robinson.
01:23:57They hammer away at him, and after eight hours, Black confesses to everything.
01:24:06McAvoy and Robinson are arrested and eventually sentenced to 25 years.
01:24:12But where is the gold?
01:24:14Meanwhile, when $20 million is deposited into a bank in Bristol, it gets noticed.
01:24:28For his part, Noy 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, is still missing.
01:24:41Out there somewhere.
01:24:44Half of the engagement rings and wedding rings sold in England from the time of the Brink's mat robbery till today contain at least some Brink's mat gold.
01:24:55Gold, that's the thing about gold.
01:24:58As soon as you melt it, it could be anybody's gold.
01:25:03Gold never really disappears.
01:25:06It came here long before us, and will be here long after we're gone.
01:25:11I think we'll always love gold.
01:25:13It gives you such a positive energy, and it makes you feel good.
01:25:18It's something of magical.
01:25:20Our lust for gold comes at a price.
01:25:25Almost every proposed new mine draws protest.
01:25:29There are environmental consequences, particularly in the less regulated developing world.
01:25:35The release of mercury used in some places to separate gold from rock can have deadly effects.
01:25:43Cyanide and sulfuric acid has leaked into the water tables with devastating results.
01:25:51Environmentalists keep pushing for more regulations to curb irresponsible practices.
01:25:58The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are only 54,000 tons of gold yet to be found on planet Earth.
01:26:06Experts claim we're only 20 years away from mining all of the world's gold.
01:26:11So we've started looking for gold under the seabed.
01:26:14The Chinese, who have an insatiable appetite for gold, have a fleet of underwater prospecting vessels and have already acquired the rights to certain areas of the seabed in the Indian Ocean.
01:26:32Conservationists worry about deep-sea mining contaminating surface waters with residual mineral particles.
01:26:39How will that affect fissures and coastal residents?
01:26:43Some in the industry claim it's safer, cleaner, and more environmentally friendly than its terrestrial counterpart.
01:26:49The quest doesn't stop there.
01:26:56Companies are also looking to mine the heavens.
01:27:01We know something about the geology of this.
01:27:04We have little rovers crawling around Mars as we speak, and we can think about exploring for gold.
01:27:10Astronomers have discovered a planet in the Milky Way made largely of diamonds.
01:27:18Is there a solid gold one out there?
01:27:21It's hard to envision, but that doesn't mean that somewhere in the future, I'm sure Christopher Columbus couldn't imagine a car or an airplane.
01:27:31So our imagination really is the fundamental limit.
01:27:33Whether we mine gold underwater or somewhere in space, one thing is certain, we are as desperate to find it now as ever.
01:27:45It's gold, and we humans can't resist it.
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