Don't expect the gap between bullion and gold equities to close soon

A contrary viewpoint to the usual: ``ASA's David Christensen explained it to Mineweb at the end of 2011 in these terms, "Right now the [gold] mining companies are trading more akin to the cyclical heavy industry mining and base metal companies of the past. ...it's very true there has been much broadening if you will of alternative investments to look at in terms of precious metals that weren't available to investors in the past."''