Elon Musk to be let inside Fort Knox depository to examine gold reserves
President Donald Trump says Elon Musk will likely be taking a look at Fort Knox, the legendary depository in Kentucky for American gold reserves, to verify the gold remains to be there.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says there may be an audit yearly and that “all of the gold is current and accounted for.”
The USA Bullion Depository at Fort Knox has saved treasured steel bullion reserves for america since 1937 and has change into synonymous for safe and effectively protected. Together with defending gold reserves, Fort Knox is at the moment additionally used because the Military’s human sources command middle, and it hosts the Military’s largest annual coaching occasion every summer time.
“We’ll open up the the doorways. We’ll examine Fort Knox,” Trump stated in a speech to Republican governors Thursday night.
“I do not wish to open it and the cabinets are naked,” he added.
The Military submit is about 35 miles south of Louisville and encompasses 109,000 acres in three Kentucky counties — Bullitt, Hardin, and Mead.
Camp Knox was established throughout World Struggle I and have become an artillery coaching middle, in keeping with the Military submit’s web site. It was made a everlasting set up in 1932 and has been identified since then as Fort Knox. The primary gold arrived at Fort Knox in 1937 with the first Cavalry Regiment referred to as on to protect the cargo.
With the outbreak of World Struggle II in Europe, the Military created the Armored Drive at Fort Knox, and 1000’s of troopers had been ordered there and launched to the tank. For almost 80 years, the submit was referred to as the “Residence of Cavalry and Armor.”
In 2005, the Military determined to maneuver the Armor Middle and Faculty to Fort Benning, Georgia, and the Human Useful resource Command Middle of Excellence was established at Fort Knox. In 2013, ROTC Cadet Summer time Coaching was consolidated at Fort Knox. The submit hosts the Military’s largest annual coaching occasion every summer time.
Based on the U.S. Mint, present gold holdings on the US Bullion Depository at Fort Knox are 147.3 million ounces. About half of the Treasury’s saved gold is saved at Fort Knox.
Closely guarded vaults seen by few
Has the gold ever been eliminated? The Mint says solely very small portions have been eliminated to check the purity of the gold throughout repeatedly scheduled audits. Apart from these samples, no gold has been transferred to or from the depository for a few years. The gold’s guide worth is $42.22 per ounce.
The depository could be very safe. The precise construction and content material of the power is thought by only some, and nobody particular person is aware of all of the procedures to open the vault.
What is thought publicly is that the power was inbuilt 1936 utilizing 16,000 cubic toes of granite, 4,200 cubic yards of concrete, 750 tons of reinforcing metal and 670 tons of structural metal. The power is closely guarded and has damaged its strict coverage of not permitting guests solely thrice.
In 1974, the US Mint opened the vaults to a gaggle of journalists and a congressional delegation so they may see the gold reserves. The Treasury secretary allowed the go to after persistent rumors that the gold had been eliminated. Till then, the one particular person aside from approved personnel to entry the vaults was President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Since then, the vaults have been opened one different time: In 2017, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin visited with Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and congressional representatives. Present Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated he would fortunately organize an inspection for any senator who’s eager about seeing the vaults.
The gold depository at Fort Knox has a popularity for being impenetrable, which has gained it a spot in fashionable tradition. As early as 1952, a Looney Tunes cartoon featured Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam digging for gold in Fort Knox. Fort Knox has additionally been featured within the plot of flicks such because the 1964 James Bond spy thriller “Goldfinger” and the 1981 comedy “Stripes,” which was partially filmed on the submit.
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Related Press author Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed.
