Qatari wealth fund plans $10bn gold buying spree

The Qatari Royal family plans to spend up to $10bn (£6.4bn) buying stakes in gold producers through their sovereign wealth fund, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
By Garry White
The Telegraph
Oct. 04, 2011

The fund is seeking to invest in a range of natural resources, but gaining access to physical gold is its top strategic priority.

On Sunday, Qatar Holdings, which controls the wealth of the Middle East state's royal family, confirmed it would invest about $1bn in European Goldfields, a London-listed miner currently developing the largest gold-mining project in Greece.

"Qatar Holdings have done a systematic and detailed study of the gold sector," said Ken Costa, who put the deal together. "They chose European Goldfields because [chairman] Martyn Konig is very experienced – a 30-year veteran in the gold market."

While Mr Costa would not comment on future likely targets, the Qataris are known to have been focusing in particular on opportunities in Africa and Russia. The valuation of North American gold miners was said to be too high.

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