Trade Center collapse buried hoard of gold

A fortune in gold lies under the rubble of the destroyed World Trade Center.

While rescuers comb through the wreckage of the twin towers, the area is also being carefully guarded against thieves to protect the estimated $US200 million ($487 million) in gold and silver buried there.

The chairman of a Canadian bank, Scotiabank, confirmed that a vault buried under the rubble holds more than $US200 million in gold and silver.

About half belonged to Scotiabank and the rest to businesses and individuals who bought the metals as investments, said Peter Godsoe, the bank chairman and chief executive officer. All was fully insured, he said.

"It's probably recoverable, but in a long time," Mr Godsoe said.

The New York cache was being guarded carefully as part of the disaster area.

The bullion is thought to be stored in underground vaults owned by Comex, a division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, where the largest metal traders clear their products.

The day before the World Trade Center collapse Comex reported that it held 792,170 ounces of gold in inventory with a value of about $US220 million, though not all of it at the Trade Center site.

- AGENCY

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