I heard there was quite a bit of gold stored at the World Trade Center. Is this true? How come?
It’s been in the news:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011005/us/attacks_buried_millions_1.html
Oops, let me try again:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010913/ts/attacks_gold_vaults_dc_1.html
Wait. Are there two different stashes here?
One article talks about the $200M in gold and silver owned by a Canadian bank and the other linked story talks about the $106M held on behalf of the COMEX metals trading division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Wow.
Instead of starting a new thread let’s see if I can highjak this one a bit.
What would happen to gold and silver at high temps. I have heard estimates of 2000 degrees. I’m assuming that would melt gold and silver, if it did Iron.
CNN said the Bank of Nova Scotia had gold there. Could it be recovered easily?
They’ve already found one safe with documents inside of it that were intact, so it’s possible that a safe full of gold and silver would make it.
Wouldn’t you have to have the safe melt first before its contents would melt? And safes are designed to stand up to pretty high temperatures.
Any metallurgists and/or safecrackers wish to weigh in on this?
The gold was in the basement, a.k.a “underground warehouse”. The 2000 degree temps were at the 80th floor or so, where the jet fuel was burning. I don’t think it had any effect on the gold.
Melting Points of Metals
Gold 1948 F
Silver 1731 F
Iron 2795 F
As SmackFu says, it probably did not get hot enough to melt metal down in the basements.
Several parts of the basement the workers have reached have been remarkably intact - including parts of the shopping level, which is the highest up of WTC’s multiple basement floors.
Indeed, several people have been arrested for looting (scroll down for the mayor’s comments); the Times reported that two were caught stealing in the shattered Tourneau watch store.