Chinese state and private investors have spent more than $16 billion over the last decade buying copper mines and projects including nearly 50 in Africa.
A tonne or more of gold mined in California and destined for the US Mint in Philadelphia when it disappeared in 1863 could be buried in cave located inside a 217,000-acre state forest, according to a special agent's findings.
The country's central bank-owned Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) is the sole buyer, refiner and exporter of gold, but has at times struggled to pay producers.