The gold price in rands has ballooned well beyond the R550 000/kg level, which is a great source of relief to the hard-pressed gold mining industry and its shareholders, who saw share values rise sharply in a non-gold-mining world currently characterised by sharp share value decline. But the cost bogey is not far off as gold’s current sweet spot in rands is based on the weakness of the local currency within an industry that imports hard-currency equipment and services. Looking into the future, the World Gold Council notes that more than 90% of physical gold demand now arises from nondollar investors and predicts that local gold pricing is destined to grow in significance.