Jim4silver said:
Your post sounded believable until you got to the "it wouldn't surprise me" part. Can you show where any private mining companies are receiving money from the "bullion banks"? If true, where do the bullion banks get that extra cash to keep mines going? If these are public companies we are talking about where are they hiding these payments on their books or do you opine that they get suitcases of cash from the "bullion banks"?
To add: there are even historical examples of such sponsoring: simply... a gold standard itself.
A major example case is the mining industry in the 193x Depression / deflation. Gold stocks did well, ex Homestake Mining Company (a proxy from the Gold Group) gaining 30% while the Dow lost 89%. The entire period (including the stock market recovery later) around 193x brought gold stock owners 4-6 times ahead of the game while owners of every other stock out there were far from break even.
That gold does well during high inflation was expected, but that gold stocks could produce big profits during periods of deflation, when prices are falling, impressed alot people back then, and gold got a new fan club, the "Gold Bugs" haha.
But, they overlooked the reason gold did well then. The price was fixed by government (that's what a gold standard is) to $20.67.
So, gold was sitting on a floor that saved it from the nasty tumble of other commodities.
Spared from the whims of the free market (savers/speculators that buy/stockpile/sell), the mining industry continued to reap profits while other industries reaped losses.
That was, one method example of how State can sponsor a selected industry, including golds.