Bigworld, Reportedly a big chunk of the Feb gold future contracts have received 'delivery notices' (article below) They want the actual metal, instead of rolling over into new contracts or letting contracts expire. The article suggests this is part of an arbitrage process, but another possibility is that more contract holders simply want to own the metal itself. Gold prices have already been rising, and in late Jan broke through the Oct highs, and have been elevating since. So not only are central banks buying gold, but holders of gold contracts have been demanding physical delivery.