No, it wasn’t at the end of a rainbow
The Royal Canadian Mint has an explanation for all that gold that went missing from its reserves last October: one part of it never left the mint, while the rest was sold off for a fraction of its value. While the Mint says its 12-page report closes the book on the mysterious disappearance, though it concedes the 3,500 ounces (worth $3 million) it sold as refinery slag to U.S. refiners is gone for good. “At the end of the day, we’ve learned a lot of lessons,” said Mint spokesperson Christine Aquino. The Mint blames the mix-ups on the heavy toll the increased demand for gold has put on its operations. Still, employees aren’t entirely off the hook: the government has suspended the issuing of bonuses to the Mint’s executives as a result of the report.