News DeskJanuary 3, 2012 11:55

Mystery "gold bars" found on Paris train may be a scam

A suitcase containing an estimated $1 million in gold bars was abandoned on a commuter train near Paris, but police now say the gold is fake.

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French police are searching for the person who abandoned a suitcase containing 44 lbs of fake gold bars, found on board the RER train at Massy-Palaiseau station, near Paris. The gold bars pictured here are the real deal. (SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images)

It was an enticing Paris mystery: who left a suitcase containing 44 pounds of gold bars on a commuter train at Massy-Palaiseau station?

A bomb squad was called in after a conductor on the RER train found a suspicious package left aboard. The locked blue metal case was found to contain 20 gold ingots, with an estimated value of $1 million.

Amazon rainforest imperiled in gold rush

Simeon TegelDecember 30, 2011 15:48

PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru — Record gold prices are claiming an unlikely victim: the lush, spectacularly biodiverse rainforests of the Peruvian Amazon.

In-Depth Series: The Scramble for El Dorado

News DeskDecember 28, 2011 15:49

As the scramble heats up, some in Latin America are also being thrown aside.

Michael GoldfarbDecember 21, 2011 12:16

A Christmas ecology story

Frankincense production in steep decline as tree from which the scent is derived is in startling decline and my be extinct before the end of the century

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Burning frankincense still has ceremonial uses just as it did when it was presented to the infant Jesus by the Wise Men. But a new study says the aromatic wood that is the source of the world's frankincense may disappear before the end of the century. (CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images)

What would the Wise Men bring today? Frankincense production in steep decline as tree from which the scent is derived is in startling decline and may be extinct before the end of the century

Guyana's gold rush turns dangerous

Girish GuptaDecember 8, 2011 07:15

MAHDIA, Guyana — As traders push the price of gold ever higher, miners deep in the Amazon jungle have found a dangerous, lawless world.

Peru: Proposed gold mine riles locals

Simeon TegelDecember 6, 2011 13:40

LIMA — President Humala’s tightrope act isn't easy: keeping Peru’s economy booming while cracking down on the mining industry’s environmental excesses.

In Colombia, digging for gold comes at a price

Nadja DrostDecember 4, 2011 10:08

NECHI, Colombia — It was like any other day in the past 40 years that Martín Palacios has spent panning for gold in northeastern Colombia. Until the police showed up.

Chavez brings home his gold

Girish GuptaNovember 29, 2011 07:00

CARACAS — “The Yankees are broke,” Chavez said. “They have no money to pay their debt ... Shall we give Obama a loan?”

Stephanie GarlowNovember 25, 2011 18:02

Peruvians protest gold mine

The country's leading gold-producing region wants to shut down a planned gold mine.

Protests are growing against a proposed gold mine in northern Peru.

An estimated 10,000 people marched to protest the mine on Thursday, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Locals believe the proposed mine threatens their water supply and that it could destroy their ecosystem.

Occupy Wall Street-style protest in Indonesia leads to closure of world's largest gold mine

Kate LambOctober 18, 2011 06:09

JAKARTA — Resentment toward corporate greed has led to four deaths and the closure of the US-owned Grasberg mine, one of the world’s largest gold mines