Gold surged through the $1900 per ounce level briefly today hitting $1908 before settling back to $1897. Some analysts are predicting prices of $2100 or $2200 this year, with at least one longer term prediction of $5,000. But we are seeing more warnings that gold is overpriced and could pull back substantially, by hundreds of dollars per ounce. [right, gold price in 2011. Credit, CNN]
Interestingly, even with such a dramatic runup in gold prices, it looks like silver was heading up at a faster clip. This might be because the gold/silver price ratio was rising or that investors spooked by the high price of gold are looking for cheaper commodities.
Arizona has one operating gold mine and another expected to start production shortly. Gold is also produced as a by-product of copper mining here.