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brownfield or greenfield discoveries. The
real money has been made through discov-
ery, not through director's holes.
I think one of the things that you're
seeing with the outperformance of the
Australian equity market relative to the
Canadian equity markets is the focus more
on delivering economic value rather than
drilling for or operating for news has really
benefited the Australian mining industry
to the expense of mining industries every-
where else in the world.
RW: If investors decide to invest in
precious metals should they be buying
physical gold, gold stocks or an ETF?
RR: I personally believe that every
investor should have some physical gold
in their portfolio. Let me explain. I believe
that gold's principal function is insurance.
It's a form of liquidity that is simultane-
ously a store of value and a medium of
exchange, so I would recommend that all
investors have some gold in their portfo-
lio, and in fact, start their portfolio from a
defensive posture.
I also believe in the data contained in the
Barron's 40-year chart, and I believe that
we are more likely than not coming into a
gold equities market that maybe one for the
record books, but I remind readers that the
tamest of the prior nine recoveries in the
last 40 years has generated 200% gains, so
the gains that are possible, and even a fairly
tepid recovery, are generous indeed.
So, investors for most of their gold
portfolio, should participate with the best
of the best companies; don't take operat-
ing performance risk, capture the market
data. For those speculators who are willing
to work on their speculations and spend
time, certainly this market will be more
generous to them.
RW: What's your opinion about invest-
ing in precious metal streaming companies
and royalty companies?
RR: I love the streaming and royalty
business. I love the fact that at least with
regard to the big two – Wheaton Precious
Metals [WPM-TSX, NYSE] and Franco-
Nevada [FNV-TSX, NYSE] – most of the
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