


Programming error explains Mint's missing gold
Updated Wed. Jun. 10 2009 5:27 PM ET
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- Something as banal as a possible programming glitch in a new computer system could explain how the Royal Canadian Mint lost track of gold stockpiles, the institution's chairman says.
Mint officials are asking whether any of the programming "which tracks all this stuff was out of whack," James Love said Wednesday in an interview.
"It's still possible that it is some sort of a programming error in that system."
Reports of missing gold at the mint conjure up images of thieves sliding pallets of gleaming ingots out the back door.
But there may be a less swashbuckling explanation for a discrepancy between the value of the precious metals on the books and the stockpile at Ottawa headquarters.
The mint has asked the RCMP to help account for th